Thornless Rose
by MintLeafeon
Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.
1. Prologue

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

There is one legend that has been passed down through generations. Is it known worldwide as a legend and a grand myth. The myth deals with a creature of legend that no current human has ever seen.

Dragons had once ruled the land the people lived on. They helped create many of the old towns and temples and were revered as one of the most honored creatures of society. They were honored as the highest creatures in the world.

The dragons each had a special purpose whether it was to become one with the elements or become one with a special skill. Many of these skills were the power to fight. Many dragons were able to choose the element or skill they lived by.

Those dealing with elements were able to become friends with many humans dealing with their element whether it was farming, building, or other jobs.

Many dragons, however, chose to become fighters that would fight by humans' sides in wars. As long as the dragon had a pact with a human, they would be able to unleash their power in battle with no limits.

Many people were fond of the dragons and became friends with many in order to live a good life.

The dragons that had formed a pact with a human were inseparable. The two partners would normally be a reflection of each other's strengths and weaknesses. They would only be able to form a pact if this was true between the two. Once bonded with a dragon however, the two are bonded for life until it is broken. The dragon would live for its partner and make sure that the partner was protected throughout their life. Whenever the dragon would 'die' for its partner, it would revive in order to keep its vow to protect the partner at all costs.

When the human partner died, the dragon died along with them in order to stay with its partner forever and never be with another.

Soon however, the dragons all became a myth.

There was only one cause for this… dragon hunters.

They popped out of nowhere looking for dragons to hunt and kill for the skins. Dragon scales were good for making extraordinary weapons that would help win wars while their skins were used for clothing and armor for soldiers to wear in the battle field.

The hunters would mercilessly kill the dragons for their skins and would capture the human partners and threaten to let them do what they wish to the dragon or else they would die in their place.

The dragons' and humans' connections with each other began to dwindle as more and more dragons were killed for the hunters' greed.

Pretty soon, all of the dragons had broken their human pacts all because the hunters had nearly killed their human partners. They broke up the pacts for both partners' benefits. The dragons knew what they were doing even though it hurt their human partners' to leave. The human never knew what the dragon was doing by breaking a pact as the pact was the only way for a dragon to unleash its power.

With all of the dragons breaking their pacts, it became much easier for the hunters to hunt dragons without worrying about them fighting back.

Because of the one thing that the dragons did to protect their human partners from becoming hostages and worrying over them, the hunters were more easily able to hunt them down. This is where the myth begins.

Years had passed with no dragons creating pacts with any human whatsoever…and this is what led to their downfall.

A massacre occurred wiping out most of the dragons from existence.

Many thought the dragon race to be dead and were saddened until they heard what happened.

The hunters had said that the dragons had attacked them first with no reason, and, in order to defend themselves, they fought back and killed each and every dragon they saw on the field.

The common public believed them as they had never even been in a pact with a dragon and did not know how the dragons were truly like.

Those that had formed pacts with the dragons before, however, knew the truth. Without a pact, a dragon wouldn't be able to fight in the slightest as their power came from the bond between dragon and human partner.

Hunters never knew that either considering they only wanted to find dragons to hunt them down for greed.

For generations, people kept with the story that the dragons had attacked the hunters first. People believed in this story entirely and did not even listen to those that had pacts with the dragons in the past.

The hunters' story was so believed in that it soon became rumored that dragons were evil creatures instead of the nice ones they once were.

The dragons were now hated and treated as one of the most evil creatures in the planet, all because of a hunters' story about the massacre. Their true selves were never revealed to the world, and the way of their pacts was hidden for centuries afterward.

However, there is one rumor about this myth.

Rumor has it that there was one dragon that survived the massacre. The dragon went into hiding in order to find a way to let the common public know that the dragons weren't to blame for what had happened in the fight.

The dragon now resides somewhere in the world…waiting…waiting, for its human partner to arrive and bring the honor of the dragons back into the light.

Where the dragon is? No one knows. What the dragon looks like? No one knows either. What will happen to the dragon? No one knows. What will happen to the future…no one would ever know until it happens and until that day comes, the myth will stay a myth….


	2. Training Trip

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

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><p><strong>Training Trip<strong>

(A/N: Any first introduction names will be first name and then last name.)

"Nya~, wasn't that a cool myth Fujiko?" a red-haired male yelled over to his brunette friend. The red-hair had somewhat curly hair at the ends. His blue eyes showed how happy he was to get out of class and finally make his way to tennis practice with the others on his team. He was lightly scratching the white bandage on his right cheek. This was Eiji Kikumaru, the acrobatic player of the Seigaku tennis team.

The brunette turned around to face his friend. "Saa…indeed it was Eiji," he answered with the same smile on his face. The smile never seemed to leave it just as his eyes nearly always stayed closed unless he was serious or wanted to scare someone. He had light brown hair that was flat and nearly went to his chin. If his eyes were ever open, the viewer would be sparkling cerulean blue eyes. This brunette's name was Syuusuke Fuji, the resident sadist of the Seigaku tennis team. "But it seems too good to be true about a dragon still living after what had happened to its race…"

Eiji was about to reply until he saw something, or someone in this case, and yelled out, "Ochibi!" The hyperactive red-head ran over to the boy he named 'Ochibi' and glomped him much to the boy's distaste.

"Kikumaru-senpai…can't…breathe…" the young 12-year old boy somehow breathed out. The boy had short black hair with emerald green tints that shone in the sun. People around could see his cat-like golden eyes filled with annoyance at getting yet another glomp from his cat-like senpai. This was Ryoma Echizen, the young tennis prodigy of the Seigaku tennis team having won four junior tennis tournaments during his stay in America before he had moved to Japan.

Another boy ran over yelling, "Eiji! Let go of Echizen! He's starting to turn blue!" This one had black hair that was cut to where it was completely flat on his head with two small bangs at the front of his head going down to his light green eyes. Shuichiro Oishi was his name, and he was the resident mother-hen of the tennis team considering how often he worried over his team even over the littlest things.

When the red-head finally let go of the young prodigy, Ryoma quickly took a deep breath to regain the air in his lungs. Glancing over at Oishi, he nodded his head slightly as show of his thanks surprising the mother-hen of the team.

"Saa…we better get going, or we are going to be late for practice," Fuji commented looking at the clock on the outside of the school.

"Nya!" Eiji yelled paling at the thought. "I don't want to run anymore laps for practice!"

With that thought in mind, the four of them immediately started to run over to the tennis courts hoping not to run any more laps than they needed to for practice. Who knew how many laps they would have to run if they were late?

Once reaching the courts, the four were certainly happy at what they saw and a bit amused as well.

On one of the two tennis courts, the two second year regulars of the team were arguing and fighting with each other again.

One boy had hair that was spiked up like a broom and had emotion-filled violet eyes. This was the Takashi Momoshiro, one of the two power players on the team as well as the player with the move 'Dunk Smash'.

The other boy he was fighting with had a green bandana on his head covering most of his black hair. His brown eyes were filled with annoyance at the boy he was fighting with. This was the resident viper of the team. His name was Kaoru Kaidoh, and he was the endurance player of the team.

Another boy was trying to calm the two down from fighting and was not doing too well of a job. He also had light brown hair, but his eyes were a dark brown. He was a calm boy at first until Fuji suddenly went up to him and put a racket in his hands. As soon as the racket was in his hands, the boy was suddenly screaming and yelling English phrases. His name was Takeshi Kawamura, and he was the main power player of the team.

Another boy with black spiky hair was watching and writing notes in his green notebook. His emerald eyes were covered by his glinting glasses as he continued to scribble down notes in his notebook, not even caring about stopping the two fighting second years. This was Sadaharu Inui, and he was the data player of the tennis team.

One other person was watching the two bicker until he suddenly yelled, "Momo! Kaidoh! 20 laps around the courts for causing a disturbance!" This boy also had brown hair but the ends were somewhat sticking out, not enough to look like a spike, but enough to not be flat against his head. His brown eyes were covered by glasses but at least people were able to see his eye color unlike Inui's. This was Kunimitsu Tezuka, the captain of the Seigaku tennis team.

The two second years grumbled before starting on their laps.

The coach, Ryuuzaki-sensei, called the regulars in for a meeting since the other members had already left the practice to go home. She had brown hair in a low ponytail and was wearing a pink tracksuit with a stripe in the middle of the jacket.

"What is it sensei?" Ryoma asked walking into the club room.

"You nine shall go on a trip to Lake Virtue to continue your training for the next tournament match. It is also a place for you to relax from all of your training so far. I expect you to train hard and to make sure that you get plenty of rest before you get back in order to prepare for the tournament in a few weeks."

The team nodded before turning to leave.

Before they could however, Ryuuzaki called out, "Be careful though!"

"Why?" Oishi asked suddenly worried about what could happen.

"I've heard rumors about a monster living in the lake kidnapping people and then those same people reappearing either between a few minutes to a few hours after being kidnapped!"

"Saa…sounds interesting," Fuji said who opened his eyes slowly at the thought of meeting the creature.

"You will be excused from practice for the next two days to prepare for the trip," Ryuuzaki said trying not to be affected by Fuji opening his eyes.

"Will you be coming with us sensei?"

"I won't be able to go with you. I have to take care of the club while you all are gone after all. Now hurry and go home to start packing," she said before starting to push them all out of the clubroom. "You will be there for a week or so!" she called out before waving her hand at the group as they walked away from the club.


	3. Lake Virtue's Shapeshifter

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Lake Virtue's Shapeshifter<strong>

The nine regulars gasped in shock at the view of the lake they had just arrived at.

The entire area in front of them was mostly taken by the lake which was enormous and looked as if it was the size of over five tennis courts. The lake shore was covered in sand and surrounding that were huge trees at the back of the lake.

The regulars could see several shrubs and other small plants on the sides of the lake, some of which they didn't know the name of or what they were.

Little burrows occupied the dirt underneath the trees and served as home for many small animals which the regulars could see popping out from their hidden homes.

Looking to the sides, the regulars saw a small river and a small waterfall going into the lake. Across from where they were was another small waterfall where the water would flow out of the lake.

"Look at all the animals!" Eiji yelled excitedly pointing at all the different fish in the lake as well as the forest animals drinking the water across the lake from them.

"So this is the reason why the bus would not drive any closer to this location," Inui muttered under his breath as he scribbled more notes into his notebook. The bus driver that had driven them for the field trip stopped half a mile from the lake and would not drive any closer. Now they all understood the reason why.

"The people in charge of the lake must want to preserve it as a habitat for the animals and make sure that as least pollution as possible will reach the lake," Inui concluded closing his notebook.

"Nya~, isn't this amazing Ochibi!" Eiji yelled glomping Ryoma once again while the latter tried to get out of the red-head's grip.

Once Ryoma finally struggled his way out of his senpai's death hug, he replied with a small nod of his head.

Everyone's eyes were filled with delight as they looked over the lake before a woman in a green forest ranger outfit walked up to them. "Are you the Seigaku tennis team?"

"Yes," Tezuka answered turning to look at the woman.

"Follow me to your cabin then," she said before turning to walk in another direction.

The nine tennis players followed her and wound up at a two-story wooden cabin.

"It should have enough room for your group. It has ten rooms as well as a kitchen and bath," the ranger explained before turning to leave. Before she left however, she turned her head over her shoulder and said, "Have you heard the rumors of the creature in the lake?"

"Yes, we have heard of it from our coach," Oishi answered looking at the ranger curiously.

The woman nodded before pointing at a billboard near the lake and said, "If you are interested in learning about the creature, you can take a look at that billboard. There are over fifty residents of the lake and nearly every one of them has been kidnapped by that creature once. Each one of the residents has posted up something having to deal with the creature. If any of you are interested in the creature, I suggest you look at that billboard for more information." The woman bowed before walking off toward the rangers' cabin which was closer to the forest area.

Going inside the cabin, each of the regulars had chosen a room to reside in for the next week as they relaxed and trained there.

Once finished, Oishi suggested, "Why don't we get something to eat?"

"Sure! I'm starving!" Momo yelled getting a hiss from Kaidoh before the two started to argue once again.

"I'm going for a walk," Ryoma replied putting his hands in his pockets and walking away from the group leaving them shocked.

"Him? Not hungry? Something's up with him," Momo commented before walking with the rest of the regulars to the cafeteria in order to get some food to eat for lunch.

* * *

><p>Ryoma walked around the lake looking for anything special to notice. After a while, he stopped walking and just decided to go back. He walked past the billboard as he walked and paused for a minute.<p>

"One look wouldn't hurt," he murmured under his breath as he walked back to the billboard and started skimming over all of the posts.

Looking over the entire billboard, he noticed that many of the posts were about what the creature looked like. He noticed something off about it however. '_What is with this?'_ he thought as he continued to skim over all of the posts. After checking the very last post on the billboard, he turned and walked over to where his teammates were now eating lunch by the lake.

"Hey Echizen! Come and sit down! The food here is great!" Momo yelled waving an arm at the freshmen before continuing to eat.

"Saa…Echizen-kun," Fuji said as Ryoma approached the group.

"What is it?"

"Why were you looking at the billboard about the creature when you were done walking?"

"Che, it's none of your business senpai," Ryoma scoffed before walking over to Momo to grab a rice ball from his stack of food and began to eat it much to Momo's displeasure.

Before he could even sit down, Eiji jumped up, ran over, and glomped him saying, "Nya~ Ochibi! What did you find out about the animal in the first place?"

"Can't…breathe…" was the only response as Eiji still hadn't let go of the freshmen regular. It took Oishi, Momo, and Fuji to pry Eiji off of the poor boy so that he could breathe again. After taking a deep breath, Ryoma said, "The creature's appearance isn't set in stone."

"Huh?" the expressive regulars questioned.

"Some say they have seen a large dog, others a large wolf and some even say they have seen a large cat-like creature. No two posts have said that they have seen the same animal whatsoever." Ryoma took another rice ball from Momo's stack of food which he growled at before listening to what else Ryoma had to say. "The only similarity between each person that was kidnapped is that the creature, whatever it is, will glare at you until you leave. If you try attacking it, it will fight back, but if you run, it'll knock you unconscious. Another similarity is that everyone that has been kidnapped wake up to find themselves on the shore of the lake near that waterfall," he said pointing at the waterfall flowing into the lake.

The regulars were surprised that Ryoma had actually told them any information on the creature that he found on the bulletin. But it sounded weird that no one had seen the animal that anyone else had seen. Now they were even more interested in the creature they had heard about from their coach.

"Is there any more information about the creature?" Eiji yelled excitedly making his way over to glomp Ryoma again.

Before he could, Ryoma shifted to the side to avoid another death hug from his overly hyper senpai. "The posts say that no one knows where the creature's cave actually is. No one knows where to find the creature basically."

"Aw," Eiji whined when he heard that. "I was hoping to see the creature at least once."

"Well, we might be kidnapped," Fuji commented offhandedly sending Oishi into a panic.

"Kidnapped! That isn't a thing to cheer for Fuji!" Oishi screamed going into mother hen mode again once more.

There was one thought going through each of their heads except for a certain freshmen's who could really care less about whether he saw the creature or not. '_I hope I get to see the creature soon…'_

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><p>One by one throughout the next three days, the regulars each got their wish.<p>

The first one to get kidnapped was taken by the creature the first day the entire group arrived at the lake area.

When Eiji returned, he was shaking in his shoes as he made his way back to the cabin where everyone was relaxing for the day.

"What happened Eiji?" Oishi yelled as he went over to his doubles partner and brought him to sit on the couch.

"I got kidnapped by the creature," Eiji whispered without his usual cheer startling some of the regulars in the room.

"What did you see?" Oishi asked curious as to what got his doubles partner so frightened and unlike himself.

"I saw a giant tiger!" Eiji turned to his partner with wide eyes. "It was white with black stripes and was huge! It was at least a story tall! Its fangs were enormous and looked sharp enough to poke a hole in me without even trying!"

The regulars all widened their eyes at the information.

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><p>The next one to get kidnapped the same day was Oishi a few hours later. When he returned, he just slumped on the couch causing his doubles partner to worry over him.<p>

"Were you kidnapped too Oishi?" Eiji asked frantically.

When Oishi nodded, Eiji could only widen his eyes before asking, "What did you see Oishi?"

Oishi looked up to see everyone in the room as well wanting to listen to what he had seen. He took a deep breath before saying, "I didn't see a giant white tiger. Instead I saw a large crocodile! It was a dark green with a lot of even darker green scales poking out of its back. Before I could even think of running, the thing showed its teeth at me before slamming me into the wall with its tail!"

The regulars could only wince at thinking of how painful that would be…

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><p>Fuji was the last one to be kidnapped that day, but he turned out just fine when he returned to the cabin. When the others questioned him about it, he just replied, "I didn't get to see its face. It was starting to drag me with what looked like a squid tentacle before it suddenly let me go before I even got into the lake water."<p>

'_I think that the creature was smart to let Fuji go before he even began to think sadistic thoughts,'_ was the thing going through most of the regulars' minds as they stared at the still smiling Fuji who was talking to Eiji about the creature once more.

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><p>The next morning, Tezuka was the first one to get kidnapped by the creature. When he came back to the cabin, he sat down on the couch already expecting someone to yell-<p>

"What did you see buchou?" Eiji yelled.

"I only saw a large red antelope with large black and curly horns. Its ears kept twitching as it stared at me. I didn't do anything but stare back before it was suddenly behind me and pricked a pressure point with its horns," he said rubbing his neck at the memory of it.

"That thing knows how to use pressure points?"

* * *

><p>Inui didn't really get much data when he was kidnapped because before he even reached the water, whatever had grabbed him had let the boy go considering he didn't even notice.<p>

"Figures you would be more interested in gathering data than what had grabbed you…"

"I did get a bit of data on what grabbed me."

"What was it then?" Eiji questioned staring at Inui with curious eyes.

"It looked like…a very large anteater tongue if I have my facts right," Inui said referring back to his notebook.

"Ew~," many of the regulars said at the thought of having an anteater tongue grabbing them.

* * *

><p>When Kaidoh arrived back at the cabin, he already started talking about what he had seen. "I saw an anaconda which was black with red stripes."<p>

"Figures a viper would see a viper," Momo teased the endurance player before they started fighting again.

"So this time was a snake huh?" Inui noted down in his notebook not paying attention to the fight as he usually did.

* * *

><p>When Momo returned, he slouched onto the couch and said that he didn't see anything. When asked why, he just replied, "I was eating something and didn't notice what was happening until I wound up on shore."<p>

"Figures the peach-head would be more interested in food," Kaidoh hissed out getting Momo back for the earlier comment when Kaidoh was kidnapped.

The other regulars just rolled their eyes at the fight before leaving the two to stop fighting and reconcile again.

* * *

><p>Kawamura returned with a sheepish look on his face. "I think I might have hurt the creature," he said once he entered the cabin.<p>

"What do you mean Kawamura-senpai?" Ryoma asked questioningly. It wasn't like Kawamura to hurt something.

"I had a racket in my hands when I was kidnapped, so when I was in the cave, I saw a large lioness in a pouncing position. Without even thinking, I started swinging my racket. I think the creature thought I was going to attack it, so it pounced at me. I was still swinging the racket, so I accidently hit the lioness on the arm knocking it to the side before it suddenly went behind me and used its claw to press a pressure point on my neck," he said rubbing a spot on his neck in remembrance.

"So that thing does know how to fight and use pressure points. Ii data," Inui said writing down everything in his notebook.

Later that night, it seemed that Kawamura was the last kidnapped for today, so the more expressive regulars started hounding Ryoma.

"Come on Ochibi! Figure out more information on the creature!" Eiji whined to the freshmen.

"Would you leave me alone already?" Ryoma growled before glaring at all of the regulars who backed up except for Fuji and Tezuka. Ryoma went to his room and locked the door before slumping on the bed. '_Why is this happening to me of all people? I didn't ask to come here and get my teammates kidnapped by a creature that apparently keeps changing his appearance. Kami-sama what did I do to deserve this? I hope that creature kidnaps me tomorrow, so I won't get stuck with anymore questions about the darn thing,'_ Ryoma thought to himself before closing his eyes for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>Ryoma got his wish as the next morning. He was immediately startled awake as he realized he wasn't in his room at the cabin anymore. Looking around, he couldn't help but be amazed at the creature he saw in the cave with him.<p> 


	4. A Creature of Legend

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>A Creature of Legend<strong>

"It can't be…" Ryoma whispered as he stared at the creature in front of him. "They are supposed to be extinct. That myth can't be right."

Ryoma had a good reason to be surprised and amazed at what he was seeing. Instead of any wild animal like his senpais had seen, he was instead staring at a different type of creature.

The creature was very tall as it looked to be at least a story tall. It had a long neck but had a large stomach area along with large arms and legs. Its tail looked like that of a crocodile's tail since it had small spikes poking out of it every now and then. The creature had two curly horns on its head along with two twitching ears. What amazed Ryoma were the two dark purple bat-like wings on the creature's dark purple body.

The creature glared at Ryoma with its two black soulless eyes.

"A dragon?" Ryoma whispered loud enough for the dragon to hear.

The dragon's ears twitched in surprise before slightly turning its body to hide its arm.

When Ryoma looked at the dragon, he saw that it had a large bruise on its arm that it was hiding. "That must have been from Kawamura-senpai's visit," he commented offhandedly before looking around the cave for something.

He finally found some seaweed in a small pond in the cave next to the dragon along with some medicinal herbs on a high ledge of the cave wall. Turning on the spot, he walked over to the pond and saw a large leaf the size of a watermelon. Taking it to the pond, he filled the leaf with water before picking some seaweed and placing it to soak in the water. Looking around again, Ryoma saw two foot-ball sized stones and laid them down next to the leaf.

"Those are going to be hard to get," he said glancing up at the herbs he found earlier. He noticed the dragon staring curiously at him as if wondering what he was doing. He paid no attention to the curious creature and instead walked up to the wall and started climbing.

Now that he noticed the height of the wall, he noted that the herbs were on a ledge about as tall as the dragon's head. He kept climbing the wall anyway only to climb up halfway before something happened.

One of the rocks underneath his foot gave in to his weight making Ryoma lose his balance on the wall. "Whoa," he said as he started falling toward the ground. He expected to hit the ground and pulled his arms to cover his arm as he waited for the harsh impact with the ground below him.

When he landed on something smooth, he was surprised. Uncovering his head and opening his eyes, Ryoma saw that he had landed on top of the dragon's head right in between the creatures horns.

Ryoma stared into the dragon's eyes seeing a sense of understanding. He nearly fell again and gripped onto one of the horns gently as the dragon slowly raised its head up to the high ledge where the herbs were. Ryoma felt the dragon steady its head long enough for him to walk over to the ledge, pick some herbs, and then make it safely back to grip the dragon's horns again as it lowered its head to the ground.

"Thank you," he said quietly with a nod as he jumped off the dragon's head as they reached the ground. Walking over to the leaf he had filled with water earlier, Ryoma saw the dragon nod its head as well before it lay down with its arm laid out in front of it.

Taking the herbs he got, Ryoma started to grind them up into a powder with the two stones he found earlier. Taking the powder, he slowly mixed it with the water at a slow pace in order to make it gel-like.

Walking over to the dragon, he said, "I'm going to clean that first alright." When he saw the dragon nod at him, he took a piece of seaweed from the water and started running it over the bruise on the dragon's arm. Once he was finished he got some more pieces of seaweed and rubbed the gel-like substance onto it before wrapping it as best as he could around the dragon's arm where the bruise was. "There we go," he commented stepping away to see his work. "Not as good as Oishi-senpai, but it should be able to help."

"Ryoma…"

"What was that?" Ryoma questioned looking around the area warily.

"Ryoma…"

"Who is that?"

"Ryoma…Ryoma?" the voice said once more.

Ryoma widened his eyes as something clicked in his head. He turned to the dragon in front of him before he heard it yell, "Ryoma!"

Ryoma looked shocked for just a moment before the shock disappeared from his face as he stared at the dragon. "What is it?"

"Good I have your attention then," the dragon seemed to reply happily. "I want to properly thank you for helping me. It seems that you are the one," the dragon said closing its eyes and tipping its head to the side with a smile much like how a female would do.

"No problem I guess," he whispered loudly enough for the dragon to hear. "Who are you anyway? And what do you mean by what you said?"

The dragon opened its eyes again before opening its mouth and taking in a deep breath. "My name is Rose. I am the last dragon of my species as you can tell. You have obviously heard of the dragon myth based on what you said earlier am I correct?" the creature asked. When it saw Ryoma nod, it smiled happily showing some fangs before saying, "I am that same lone dragon at the end of the legend. I'm a girl as you can tell from my voice. I'm looking for my human partner." She placed her head on top of her front paws as her eyes drooped. "I was just a baby when that fight happened between the hunters and the dragons, but I will never forget it. I was able to hide from the hunters obviously considering I am here right at the moment. Before I could even think of finding some way to get out of my hiding place, the hunters that look the lives of my kind had left the area and died off before I could grow. I have remained in this lake for the majority of my life waiting for someone to come by and see me. It seems as if you are my destined partner however," she finished happily bringing her head up to stare at Ryoma.

"What? What do you mean by 'I am your destined partner'?" he asked widened his eyes slightly. "And why does everyone else see you as something other than a dragon?"

Rose shook her head with a sigh before saying, "I have a lot to explain don't I? The reason the others see me as something other than a dragon is because until I form a pact with my destined human, everyone I meet will see me as either a dragon or not a dragon. The one who sees me as a creature other than a dragon are not my destined partner. My destined partner is the one that can see me as a dragon. That's the quirk of being the last dragon in the world."

Ryoma shook his head to try and understand everything that Rose explained to him. "I think I can understand. If I am going to be your partner however, I have one condition."

"What is it Ryoma-sama?" Rose asked tipping her head to the side with what looked like a confused expression.

"Do not call me Ryoma-sama. Just call me Ryoma alright?"

"Only if you will call me Rose, Ryo-kun," Rose said with a smirk on her face as she straightened her head.

"That will work I guess Ro-chan," Ryoma replied with a smirk as well.

"That will work too," Rose smiled along with Ryoma.

Before the two knew it, the two started laughing at their own childish behavior because of what they were going to call each other.

"It has been a while since I had this normal of a conversation," Ryoma stated after calming himself down with a few deep breaths. "There is one problem though," he said as he straightened himself up to stare Rose in the eyes.

"And that would be?" Rose questioned after calming herself down as well.

"How will you follow me around if you are a dragon that is a story tall?" he said raising his hand to gesture how tall she was at the moment.

Rose blinked a few times at him dumbfounded before laughing aloud.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Ryoma asked as he noticed Rose collapse onto her arms and legs from laughing too hard.

"It's nothing Ryo-kun," Rose said calming her laughter. Taking another deep breath, she answered, "That is not a problem. I can and will transform into any form that you are most comfortable with. Just watch."

Rose stood up from her position and slowly breathed in air as her body started to glow a bright white.

Ryoma raised an arm over his eyes to shield him from possibly going blind and peeked through to see the glow shatter. What he saw made him surprised as he didn't see a dragon anymore.

What he saw was a young girl, most likely the same age as him, with white hair with silver streaks lining it all the way down to her waist. She also has a pair of cat-like golden eyes just like he had as well. Looking her up and down, Ryoma saw that she wore a white tank top with two straps going over her shoulders with another pair of straps going around her upper arms. The girl also wore a blue pair of skinny shorts that only made it to her knees. On her feet was a pair of dark blue high-heeled shoes. He also noticed that she was wearing a silver scarf around her back with the excess hanging off of her arms.

"What do you think?" Rose asked pivoting on the spot to allow Ryoma to see the rest of the outfit. On the inside, she couldn't help but giggle at how funny Ryoma was looking with that obviously shocked face that was nearly gaping at her new look.

Ryoma snapped out of it and replaced any shock on his face with one of indifference before replying, "You look fine now. But won't my teammates find it just a bit suspicious that I disappear in the morning and then return afterwards with a girl I never even talked about or know?"

Rose glanced at him with a look that pretty much said, 'how many questions are you going to ask me just today alone?' Sighing and turning to him, she answered, "Just make up a lie about how I'm your girlfriend or something. Anything you have to lie about to keep me around to protect you will be etched into your family's memories so that they won't blab out anything that could reveal that they don't really know me. Don't worry about their real memories though. It won't affect any of their existing memories that they have already. It'll only create new memories to include me if you do have to make up a lie about who I am. Then we won't get in trouble with your family or your teammates. And besides," she skipped up to him and threw her arms around his shoulders playfully before finishing, "you are having enough girl trouble aren't you? With me as your girlfriend, your fan-girls at school or anywhere else won't even be able to come near you without having to deal with me getting in the way. This way you'll be able to focus more on tennis and on school and possible training to become my partner."

Ryoma thought about the plan for a minute before shrugging in Rose's hold and saying, "It sounds like a plan to me. Are you going to lead us out of here?"

"Of course Ryo-kun. Follow me please," Rose said gesturing to follow her as she walked over to another portion of the cave.

When they reached the back of the cave, Ryoma couldn't help but notice that there was a smooth wall there.

Ryoma snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Rose start saying something. "Open the gates to the land to allow my presence back into the world of mortals. Allow my life to be connected with that of my human partners'." Here she held out her hand for Ryoma to hold. As soon as he took her hand, she continued, "I hereby form a contract of partnership between myth and reality. The myth of the dragon Rose Ryu, please join together with the reality of the human Ryoma Echizen."

Ryoma took a glance at their hands and noticed something peculiar appear. It appeared to be a pair of tattoos on their hands. The one of her hand was that of a white dragon scale with a bladed edge, and on his was a silver bladed weapon tattoo. The two tattoos disappeared as quickly as they had appeared on their hands.

"Contract is hereby formed and accepted. May we leave this place safely," Rose whispered the end as the wall started to open and reveal a flight of stairs. Turning to Ryoma, she said, "Let's go then Ryo-kun."

Nodding, Ryoma tightened his hold on Rose's hand as she led them out of the cave. When they finally appeared in the sunlight, he noticed that they were in an old cabin on the side of the lake opposite of the camp they were going to.

"I may only use this escape when I find my human partner. If I don't find my partner, I cannot leave that cave. If you look at that side of the lake," she pointed to the waterfall flowing out of the lake, "you can now see the cave hidden by that waterfall."

"So that is the reason why no one figured out where the entrance to the cave is. They usually end up on the other side of the lake," Ryoma reasoned as he indeed saw the cave entrance now that she mentioned it.

"Correct Ryo-kun. Now listen carefully. You have to treat me like your girlfriend once we get back to your teammates," she said turning to him. "We can say that we met when we were kids in America and that I left for France while you left for Japan to occasionally visit."

"Wait a minute, how did you know I visited Japan with my baka Oyaji occasionally? How did you even know I lived in America in the first place?" Ryoma questioned interrupting whatever she was going to say next.

"When dragons form a contract with their human partners, we learn anything crucial we need to know about our partner and vice versa. You will learn my abilities and yours as well later when we start training. But I will allow you to know about my likes and dislikes and abilities so far," she said before snapping her fingers.

Ryoma's head was filled with sudden memories and techniques. "Are these all of your abilities?"

"Not all of them. I will be able to unlock more since we have a contract now. Those are only the basic ones which I can do without a partner. It's pretty simple and not too grand whatsoever."

"Oh…so what is the rest of the story?"

"Right. We kept in contact, but last year we lost contact with each other. It doesn't matter how, we just did okay. You can think of a reason of how we lost contact or just say we lost contact. You found me today wandering around the forest, and we catch up on stuff. Would something around that story work for you?"

"That will work. It's not like my baka Oyaji would mind considering he keeps bugging me to get a girlfriend," Ryoma scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

Rose giggled before saying, "There is also another thing I should tell you about."

"What is it?"

"Dragons and their human partners will be able to talk by telepathy once the contract is formed. Try speaking with your mind to me."

'**You mean like this?**' Ryoma thought to the girl.

'**Precisely Ryoma. Precisely like this,**' Rose answered back with a smile on her face as she watched Ryoma jump a bit in surprise at actually getting an answer.

Giggling, Rose asked, "Why don't we get back to your friends? I kidnapped you while you were asleep, so they are probably worried."

"If I know them well, they most likely are," Ryoma said rolling his eyes again before walking off toward the team's cabins. "I do have one question though."

"What is it?"

"Now that we have formed…a contract. If people ever see you in your true form, will they still see you as a different animal, or will they see you like a dragon like I did?"

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that. The truth is, now that we have formed a contract, if I ever need to transform into my true state, others WILL see me as a dragon instead of seeing me like before. As soon as that happens, they will most likely realize that the legend of the last dragon is true."

"Alright, I get it," Ryoma said before continuing to walk to the cabin in silence.

* * *

><p>As soon as the two had arrived at the cabin, it was already near lunchtime. What they saw amused them somewhat as the expressive regulars were running around the area screaming.<p>

"Echizen! Ochibi! Ryoma!" were the statements that the two partners could hear.

Walking to the team captain, the two held hands in order to make the dating scheme the two thought up more realistic.

As soon as Ryoma got to his captain, he couldn't help but notice that the regulars hadn't even seen him approach them in the slightest.

Rose couldn't help but notice how Tezuka was massaging the bridge of his nose in what looked like…irritation maybe? Inui was writing in his notebook, most likely about how the regulars were reacting currently. Fuji was looking at them all with amusement much like she was. Kaidoh was mumbling something under his breath. From what she could hear, he was saying something about a stupid peach. Kikumaru, Oishi, Kawamura, and Momo were the ones running around frantically calling out Ryoma's name over and over again thinking it would help bring the boy back sooner. '_I am glad that I got information about each of the regulars from Ryoma when the contract was made. No wonder he is amused whenever something happens with his team."_

"Afternoon buchou. What's going on?" Ryoma asked suddenly breaking Rose from her thoughts.

She turned her head to see the four running regulars stop suddenly and ran over to glomp him and ask him questions.

"Where were you Echizen? We were worried when we didn't find you in your room this morning!" Oishi yelled in his face before checking him over. Oishi continued to ask question after question about whether Ryoma was okay or not.

"Stop bothering my Ryo-kun!" they all heard from the side.

Turning to look at the person, the regulars were surprised to see a white-haired girl with same golden eyes as Ryoma.

Ryoma smirked at his senpais before walking over to Rose and saying, "Hey Ro-chan. Thanks for that." Deciding to keep the dating act up and believable, he lightly kissed her on the cheek causing her to close one eye in a playful flinch and give him a small smile.

The regulars all had looks of shock on their faces, excluding Tezuka who had only widened his eyes slightly, Fuji who had opened his eyes slightly, and Inui who had stopped writing in his notebook for a quick moment before going back to writing while the other regulars were gaping like goldfish.

"Ochibi~, who is this girl?" Eiji said as soon as he snapped out of his shock.

Smirking, Ryoma turned to them with one of his arms around Rose's waist. "Everyone, this is Rose Ryu. She is my girlfriend from America…" With that said, he repeated the story that Rose had came up with. As he was speaking those words, his family members' memories were being altered to add in new memories including Rose. When Ryoma finished talking, nearly all of the regulars were on the ground shocked at what they just learned from Ryoma.

1) Ryoma had a girlfriend and

2) Ryoma didn't bother to tell them that he did have one.

"Why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend you brat?" Momo said snapping out of his shock and getting Ryoma into a headlock.

"You never asked," Ryoma answered finally getting out of the headlock with Rose's help.

The expressive regulars nearly fell onto the ground again once they heard Ryoma's answer.

"What interesting people," Rose whispered under her breath as she giggled at the team's antics.


	5. Myths Can Play Tennis Too…

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Myths Can Play Tennis Too…<strong>

"Why does he always bring that out?" Eiji yelled as he ran around the lake with the other regulars.

The regulars were again running for their lives. Why? The reason was none other than Inui's Super Deluxe Penal-Tea drink.

The regulars were on their 20th lap and their time limit was now three minutes per lap because of the size of the lake.

"Come on everyone! You can do it!" a voice yelled at the regulars from the other side of the lake.

Turning their heads to glance over, they saw Rose waving a hand above her head as she cheered them all on.

'**Neh Ryo-kun~,**' someone suddenly voiced in Ryoma's head.

'**Hmm? What is it Ro-chan?**' Ryoma said not jumping in the slightest. When Ryoma and Rose were walking back to the regulars, they were talking non-stop using telepathy so that Ryoma wouldn't be too startled whenever she started using it randomly to talk to him.

'**How fast can the other regulars go?**'

'**Let's find out then,**' Ryoma said sending a mental smirk over to Rose which she returned as he came up with something.

Ryoma outwardly smirked before speeding up a bit ahead of the regulars to give them a scare.

"No you don't Echizen!" Momo yelled as he sped up along with Kaidoh as they were still arguing with each other.

The other regulars were not about to drink the drink that Inui made and suddenly started sprinting in order to get back next to Ryoma.

Luckily, all of the regulars had finished the last lap in a tie, so no one had to drink the horrid thing that Inui created.

Panting to the ground, they heard Inui say something about sharing the drink before they all yelled, "Drink it yourself!" while glaring at the data specialist.

"Stop with the drink attacks already Inui…we can't take it…" Oishi panted out.

Rose walked up before giving them each a bottle of water.

"Thank you very much Ryu-san," the regulars all said gratefully as they took the bottled water and refreshed themselves.

"Please just call me Rose. Ryu-san makes me feel old," she replied looking at each of them with a smile on her face.

'**Thank you Ryo-kun,**' Rose thought to Ryoma as she walked over to him after giving the last regular water.

Taking a drink out of the water bottle, Ryoma replied, '**No problem Ro-chan. That was actually…fun…'** he admitted while opening one eye to stare at her.

After finishing their drinks, they felt well enough to continue training instead of staying on the ground panting from their laps.

"Alright, first match will be Momo versus Echizen," Inui announced reading off of a paper in his hands. The two called out glanced at each other before Ryoma smirked at Momo who returned it with a wide grin. "Then it will be Kaidoh versus Kawamura." Kawamura rubbed the back of his head while Kaidoh hissed aloud. "Then it will be Oishi versus Tezuka." The two mentioned glanced at each other before turning back to Inui to hear the last match-up even though they could figure it out on their own. "Last is Fuji versus Eiji." Fuji just gave his normal smile while Eiji jumped on the former's back and smiled happily.

* * *

><p>A few matches later, Rose handed each of the regulars another bottle of water to help them recover from the matches they played.<p>

The regulars took it without hesitation and downed the bottles as quickly as they could without choking as it was pretty hot outside now.

Tezuka looked over and asked, "Do you play tennis as well Rose?"

Rose looked over from next to Ryoma and replied, "Yes I play tennis. I used to play matches against Ryo-kun when we were younger in America." She threw her arms around Ryoma's shoulders in a hug as she smiled at the rest of the regulars.

Ryoma just glanced over at her with a small smile causing her own smile to widen at the look he was giving her.

Rose couldn't help but be happy that Ryoma didn't mind her doing this even though they were supposed to pretend that they were dating. '_Yeah…just pretending…'_ she thought with a small smile as she stared at Ryoma through one opened eye.

"Nya~ does that mean you are good Rose?" Kikumaru asked before running over and glomping both Ryoma and Rose sending them nearly crashing over with the weight.

"Saa…I wonder how good you are Rose," Fuji said having his chin held by his hand in amusement as he stared as Oishi tried to pry Eiji off of the two.

When Rose and Ryoma were finally free from Eiji, the two glanced at each other with questioning looks before Rose replied, "I don't remember if I was any good. We haven't played for over five years right Ryo-kun?" she asked turning to Ryoma with a finger on her chin in confusion.

Ryoma understood what his partner was trying to do and replied, "Che. We haven't played for over five years. I bet you have been training to try and beat me however," he finished with a smirk on his face.

"Oh! You know that I can't beat you Ryo-kun! When we were younger, I couldn't even win three games against you!" Rose yelled pouting slightly.

'_Cute…'_ was the main thought going through each regulars' heads as they stared at the face she was making.

"Nya~ Rose? Can you play doubles?" Eiji asked excitedly with his eyes lighting up with hope.

"I can somewhat play doubles Kikumaru-senpai," she replied before latching onto Ryoma's arm. "Will you be my doubles partner Ryo-kun?" she asked him suddenly getting gasps from the others and a slightly wide-eyed look from Ryoma.

'_Doesn't she know how bad Echizen is at doubles?'_ the regulars thought to themselves before remembering the first doubles match Ryoma had with Momo in their first tournament.

'**What are you thinking Rose? I can't play doubles,**' Ryoma thought to Rose while using her actual name to show how serious he was about the situation. The regulars luckily didn't notice how silent the two were being as they talked telepathically.

Rose smiled at him before answering, '**No problem Ryo-kun. I already know your play-style, and you should be able to know mine in three…two…one…**'

All of a sudden, images appeared in Ryoma's mind startling him for a second before he pulled himself together before anyone noticed. All of the images were of play-styles that Rose would use in any matches she would have to play including the one they were about to take a part in.

'**My style of tennis play will be able to compliment yours Ryo-kun,**' Rose thought to him as soon as she knew that he was done gathering all of the information.

'**Those are some interesting moves that you can do,**' Ryoma admitted after seeing all of what she would be able to do. Ryoma smirked causing everyone to look over at him as he answered, "Sure I'll play doubles with you Ro-chan."

Some of the regulars just stared wide-eyed at Ryoma while the others just slightly widened their own eyes in surprise and some shock. They were all thinking one thing though. '_This isn't going to turn out well…'_

Fuji got everyone's attention by clearing his throat with a cough. "Saa…who should they face then?" he questioned once everyone looked his way.

Eiji immediately jumped up and yelled, "I wanna face Ochibi-chan and Rose-chan! Please Tezuka-buchou!" Kikumaru looked at his captain with a gleam of hope in his eyes and a large smile on his face.

Tezuka thought for only a moment before sighing and answered, "So it will be the Golden Pair versus?"

The regulars knew that Tezuka was waiting for the pairing name between the couple.

Ryoma glanced at Rose hoping she would have a plan which she did when she said aloud, "Mythology Pair."

"Saa…Mythology Pair huh? Sounds interesting," Fuji said opening his eyes to show the cerulean orbs underneath.

As soon as the team looked over at Fuji, they cringed as soon as they saw his opened eyes.

Rose and Ryoma didn't bother looking over at Fuji knowing that he had opened his eyes. They didn't want to see the look in them if they could help it. His look was just downright scary at times. The two instead just went a side of the tennis court as Eiji and Oishi made their way onto the opposite side of the court.

"Which?" Eiji asked holding his racket to the ground.

"Smooth," Ryoma answered before glancing at Rose and nodding slightly.

She nodded back as soon as Eiji let go of the racket and let it spin on the ground until it fell revealing who would be serving first. "Looks like you are serving first Kikumaru-senpai," Rose commented seeing that the racket had landed on the rough side.

'**You know the plan right Ryo-kun?**' she thought over to her partner as they got ready to return Eiji's serve.

As soon as the boy hit the ball over the net, Ryoma immediately ran over to return it as he replied, '**Yeah I know the plan Ro-chan.**' Hitting the ball back over the net,

'**Good because I don't like to lose. The pride of a dragon is way much too great for one to lose it,**' Rose replied as she ran over to the other side of the court in order to return the shot that Eiji just hit.

'**Arrogant much aren't you Ro-chan?**' Ryoma replied watching as Rose hit the ball over to the back area of the opponents' court.

'**Cocky much aren't you Ryo-kun?**' Rose replied playfully as she watched as Eiji lobbed the ball over to her side of the court. "Perfect," she whispered to herself as she jumped up high into the air while turning herself to look away from the court with her racket in her hand behind her back. Throwing herself forward, she threw her arm down as fast and strong as she could to return the ball to the other side of the court.

As soon as the ball landed on the other side of the court, everyone could hear a loud "Boom!" before the ball shot back up into the air before landing outside of the courts.

Looking back at Rose, they all noticed her landing lightly on her feet before she looked at them all and said, "Shattered Thunder."

Confused at why she would name the tennis move that, the regulars all looked back at where the shot had landed.

As soon as they looked however, they knew the reason why she had named that particular move that. The reason she named it the name she did? The reason was because when they looked at the spot that the ball had landed, they now saw that not only did it create a large "Boom!" when it landed, but it also partially shattered part of the ground where it landed.

"Cool!" Eiji yelled jumping around excitedly as he took in the information. "That was so cool Rose-chan!" he continued to yell.

The game continued to play in the same manner as Rose continued to use the same smash move hoping that someone would be able to break it. Unfortunately, neither Eiji nor Oishi could break it so far considering how powerful the shot was.

"That is one interesting move," Fuji commented as he stared at the two partners.

* * *

><p>At least one hour had passed before the Mythology Pair had won the match seven games to six. The regulars were all surprised because of several reasons.<p>

Number one was that Ryoma could play doubles. Number two was that Rose was a good tennis player. And number three was that the golden pair had actually lost even though it was a good game in their opinion.

With that game finished, Rose walked over to a nearby area and grabbed four bottles of water for herself and for Ryoma, Eiji, and Oishi.

"Thank you Rose!" Eiji yelled happily gulping all the water down.

"Thank you very much," Oishi replied before drinking his water calmly unlike his doubles partner.

Ryoma just gave a quick nod which Rose understood completely as she smiled back at him.

'**I'm surprised by how well you understand me even though we only just met Ro-chan,**' Ryoma commented as he drank some water while staring across the lake.

'**It's something that happens between partners. It is especially common when a mythical creature partners with a reality creature such as yourself.**"

'**Huh?**'

'**I'm saying that since you are a human, a reality creature, and I a dragon, a mythical creature, it is very common that we will be able to understand each other well after a while. Although it is much easier for the mythical creature to understand the reality creature first, the reality creature will learn after a while about how to understand the mythical creature,**' Rose explained looking across the lake out into the open area.

'**That's a lot of technical terms for just the creature subject. I don't want to see how many categories you have for the actual species,**' Ryoma commented which earned a mental giggle from Rose before she gave him a mental image of her nodding in agreement.

Looking out at the lake, Rose commented, "Should we go back now everyone? It is starting to get dark."

Looking up at the sky, the regulars saw that the sky was already turning into a deep shade of purple and about to go black.

Turning toward Rose, Oishi saw that she was heading toward the lake. "Rose? Do you have anywhere to stay?" he asked as he watched the girl start walking.

Turning her head over her shoulder, Rose replied, "No. I have just been sleeping close to the lake while I was here."

As soon as she had finished her sentence, Oishi started rambling on about how she shouldn't be sleeping outside or even near a lake where the creature from the rumor could take her.

'**Not anymore,**' Ryoma and Rose thought to each other as they gave each other a quick glance.

Oishi would have kept on rambling if Rose had not said, "If it would be okay with you, then should I stay with you all at the cabin then?"

The regulars agreed to let her stay at the cabin immediately after she asked.

This shocked Rose a bit as her face took on a shocked expression before she calmed down and asked, "Then I would like a room close to Ryo-kun's please."

Luckily Rose got the last room in the cabin which was just to the left of Ryoma's room in the cabin.

'**You have very interesting teammates Ryo-kun,**' Rose commented as she took Ryoma's hand and started to walk back to the cabin with the rest of the group.

'**More like weird except for Tezuka-buchou and Fuji-senpai. They seem to be the only normal ones in the group,**' she heard Ryoma reply with a silent scoff.

Giggling, Rose just commented, '**Says the cocky freshman of the Seigaku tennis team.**'

'**Let's just keep walking before we get stuck out here when its pitch black,**' Ryoma commented choosing to ignore what Rose just said.

'**Agreed~,**' Rose giggled as she walked a bit closer to him in order to keep up the image that they were dating. It seemed to be believable considering that the regulars had not even suspected their relationship in the first place.


	6. Poison Warning

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Poison Warning<br>**

"Huh? What do you mean we'll be training in the forest?" the regulars yelled at their captain after hearing the news.

Tezuka continued staring at them with a stoic face not revealing any emotion to his teammates.

The regulars were already tired of all the training considering it was the fourth day of the week they were staying over at Lake Virtue.

Tezuka just gave a short sigh before saying, "Don't let your guard down. We were sent to train here, and we are going to train here."

"But why can't we go into part of the forest where the light is actually shining through and not the dark areas?" Eiji complained before getting calmed down by Oishi before they were all sent for laps around the lake.

"I have to agree with Kikumaru-senpai everyone," a voice said from behind the entire group startling the rest of them besides for Ryoma.

Turning around, the regulars all saw Rose heading toward them while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Apparently, she had slept later than the rest of the regulars did even though she wasn't the one training. "The forest is fine where the sun is shining through but…" she trailed off at the end while staring at the ground.

Confused, Momo voiced the question everyone wanted to ask. "But what Rose? What's wrong with the other parts of the forest?"

Looking up slightly, Rose replied, "In the dark part of the forest where there is practically no light shining through, there are snakes and other animals crawling around the area. The vines grow around every single inch of the forest with thorns on every inch of the vine. They practically crawl along the ground as if hunting for prey." Here the regulars were starting to get a little nervous about her explanation. She had been here a lot longer than they had, so they believed every single word she was saying. "The trees come alive and sway just slightly to make it seem as if they'll get you and everyone around you the moment you walk into the forest," she finished her explanation and scared some of the regulars in the meantime.

The more expressive regulars were thoroughly freaked out by now with all the information that Rose had given them. Gulping in fear, they all looked to Tezuka with hopes of not going.

Unfortunately, even with the information that Rose had just said, Tezuka had still insisted on training within the darker portions of the forest.

With that said, Tezuka ordered everyone to start with warm-ups before they went out into the forest.

During warm-ups, Rose walked up to Ryoma and said, "Is it alright if I can talk to you for a bit Ryo-kun?"

Ryoma nodded slightly before asking his captain for permission. As soon as Tezuka gave the nod, Rose immediately latched onto Ryoma's arm and dragged him away from the group and to the other side of the lake where the regulars would not be able to see or hear them.

"What is it Rose?" Ryoma asked concerned as Rose had never completely latched onto him like that even with the dating façade going on.

"Be careful in the forest alright Ryoma," Rose said with a stern face startling Ryoma.

Raising an eyebrow, Ryoma got suspicious of what Rose was talking about as he had never seen that expression on her face before. It was also the use of his full name that surprised him. "What are you talking about?" he asked hoping to clarify what she meant.

Rose turned to look toward the lake before taking off her shoes and walking into the shallow water. "When I said that there were snakes…" she started to say as she turned her head over her shoulder to look at Ryoma, "I meant they were poisonous snakes."

"What?" Ryoma exclaimed with surprise. "What happens if anyone gets bitten by them?"

Rose sighed before turning back to the lake and explaining, "If anyone is bitten by those snakes, they will only have twenty-four hours to find the antidote. The preservers of this lake used to have plenty of antidotes for the poison, but the last of it was used up a month ago. The ingredient for the antidote, however, is a medicinal herb at the bottom of this lake."

"There's more to it isn't it?" Ryoma asked knowing that there was a reason that the preservers weren't able to get the herb even if it was at the bottom of the lake they were trying to protect.

Sighing once again, Rose replied, "That is correct. The problem in getting the plant is that it is at the bottom of the lake. For the first few feet in, you can see that it is only knee-deep." She walked a bit further into the water and continued to say, "The next area will go waist deep before going below your head," she walked into an area of the lake where only her head was popping up. "After reaching that point, there is a steep drop in the lake and the actual bottom of the lake is nearly fifteen or twenty feet deep. The plant grows at the sides of the steep wall, but the preservers don't have any equipment they can use to get the herb. Because of this, no one has gone into the forest. That way, they won't risk getting poisoned by the snakes."

Ryoma's face paled just a bit as she explained how much trouble it would be to get the plant. "I have to do something though. What if something happens while we are training? We'll be in trouble if we can't do anything."

"I'll help you," Rose said turning her head in order to stare into Ryoma's eyes.

Ryoma looked at her confused before mental images appeared in his head. "Right…your abilities."

"That's correct. My most powerful elements are air and water. I can use them to my advantage. But considering I have to be in my human form in order to avoid suspicion, I can only get one herb at a time. I will try to get as much as I can before you come back from your training. From what I can tell…someone, I don't know who, is going to get bitten out there."

Rose suddenly ducked down under the water startling Ryoma. He only relaxed when he heard her telepathically say, '**You better get going Ryoma. The others are waiting for you in order to train in the forest to practice and get out of there as quickly as they can. Be sure to warn them to be extremely careful of the animals in the forest though. I'll be completely fine so don't worry about a thing.**'

'**Thank you Rose,**' Ryoma thought back to her as that was the only response he could think of at the moment before he started walking back over to the team.

"About time you showed up Echizen!" Momo yelled going over to Ryoma and getting the boy into a headlock.

Ryoma struggled to get out of the hold before successfully getting out. Turning to the regulars, he caught their attention before turning to the forest and whispering, "Be careful everyone."

With that one comment said, the regulars looked at him confused at what he meant before shrugging and jogging over to the forest in order to train.

* * *

><p>An hour later found the regulars practically sprinting back to the lake side. The reason why? It was because three people, namely Eiji, Momo, and Kaidoh, were bitten by the poisonous snakes, and the regulars didn't know the cure.<p>

Running over to the preserver cabin, Oishi yelled out, "Does anyone have an antidote for the poison from the snakes in the forest?"

Unfortunately, he was met with negative responses as the main preserver replied, "I'm sorry, but we ran out of the antidote a month ago. The main ingredient for it is a plant at the bottom of the lake which is around fifteen to twenty feet deep. I'm sorry for your friends, but there is nothing we can do right now to help them."

Running out to the lake, the regulars hoped that they would be able to do something other than sit around.

Making their way over to the lake, they couldn't help but be surprised at what they saw.

"Rose?" Oishi questioned as he saw Rose pop out of the water once more before swimming to the sand shore carrying a strange looking plant out of the water. As soon as she was close enough, she automatically threw the plant to the shore before going back to grab another herb.

The regulars walked closer with the three poisoned teammates being carried over and took a look at the plant she was bringing up.

Oishi took one look and gasped while saying, "A flower with a tulip-shape…"

"…and a stem that looks like a cat-tail plants'," Fuji finished as he opened his eyes slightly to stare as Rose continued to pull plant after plant out of the water.

"That's the plant!" Kawamura exclaimed in shock as he continued to watch Rose.

Rose pulled one more plant out of the water before swimming all the way onto land and collapsing next to the pile of herbs she had gathered. From what she thought, she must have gathered at least thirty in the time that they were gone training.

"Are you alright Ro-chan?" Ryoma called over before walking over to the girl and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Rose just looked up at him through half-lidded eyes before nodding slightly and pointing to the plants and then at the poisoned regulars.

Understanding what she was talking about, Oishi immediately called for someone to run over to their cabin and get some glasses and clean water. "Thank you so much Rose," he whispered as he took two stones and started grinding herbs together into a fine powder.

By the time the other regulars returned with the cups and water, Oishi had already ground about ten of the herbs and was waiting for them next to the rest of the plants and Rose.

Bringing the cups and water over, Oishi immediately filled each of the cups with water before pouring a bit of the powder into each one to turn the water green. As soon as the powder was completely dissolved, they all helped the three poisoned regulars drink it.

After finishing the drink, Eiji, Momo, and Kaidoh started coughing loudly and sat up hitting their chests with their hands as if trying to get something out of their system.

"Are you three alright?" Oishi said automatically going into mother hen mode once he saw them sitting up.

"We're fine Oishi~," Eiji reassured his doubles partner as he continued to cough a bit from the poison still making its way out of his system.

"Thank you so much Rose," Oishi thanked the girl once again as he turned to her.

What he saw made his gasp and made the others turn to look over at Rose as well.

They saw Ryoma on one knee next to Rose with her sitting up against him and one of Ryoma's arms around her shoulder.

"You alright Ro-chan?" Ryoma asked softly trying not to be too loud.

Rose took deep breaths before taking Ryoma's hand and squeezing it reassuringly before giving him a nod.

This didn't seem to go well with him as Ryoma suddenly picked Rose up in his arms before saying, "I'll be taking Ro-chan to get changed out of these wet clothes everyone," before walking away from the group and back to the cabin.

After a few minutes of resting, the rest of the regulars decided to also go back to the cabin in order to calm down from what happened.

Walking into the cabin, they saw Ryoma sitting on the couch with Rose wrapped up in a blanket next to him and leaning on him with one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders. The two were fast asleep as they were both breathing evenly.

"They look so cute as a couple," Eiji whispered to the rest of the group.

"They do," Oishi agreed with a small smile on his face as he went to the kitchen in order to cook some food for the entire group.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the food for everyone was done, and the entire group, minus Ryoma and Rose who were still in the main room of the cabin, helped to bring the food out for everyone.<p>

"Is that food I smell?" a voice said softly making everyone turn their heads. They saw Rose slowly lift her head off of Ryoma's shoulder making him wake up as well.

"Are you alright Rose?" Oishi asked knowing that she was probably in the lake for a while in order to get all those herbs from the bottom.

"I'll be fine everyone," she said before loosening the blanket a bit in order to release her hands and arms to get some food.

Before she could even loosen the blanket just a little bit, Ryoma just placed a hand on her shoulders while shaking his head.

Rose glanced at him confused before she understood and just laid back against the couch again as Ryoma reached for two bowls, one for her and one for himself.

Luckily, Oishi was able to cook a simple dish of rice and meat with the supplies given to them by the preservers. This was good for Rose considering it would be easier for Ryoma to do what he wanted to do.

Ryoma started to feed Rose which got startled looks from the group. "She's still cold from the lake water," he explained considering Rose could not talk while eating.

The group seemed to understand this as from their perspective, the two were a couple. They never seemed to realize that Rose was still staring at Ryoma's eyes in a silent conversation the two were having.

'**You never told me about that little detail Ro-chan,**' Ryoma thought to her as he continued to feed her.

'**I'm a reptile though. You should at least know we don't really like sudden temperature changes,**' Rose whined through the telepathic link with a mental smile sent afterward.

'**Okay, now I know you are joking with me. But are you sure that you are okay?**'

'**I'll be fine after a bit of rest Ryo-kun. There is no need to worry,**' she replied giving him an outward smile in reassurance to which he nodded to.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week followed the same training procedure for the regulars. They would wake up, Rose later than the rest considering she wasn't a part of the team, so therefore, she doesn't need to train, have breakfast, warm up, run around the lake to avoid Inui's dea-<em>healthy<em> drinks, have lunch, have practice matches against each other, which Rose would join in every once in a while to add a bit of fun to the training, have dinner, wash up, and then go to bed.

Luckily for everyone, Rose told them all the bad sections to train in the entire area of the lake so that they didn't have another accident like the one in the forest…they did not want to have to go through that again…


	7. First Day Back

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>First Day Back<strong>

The day finally arrived at the school of Seigaku. Today was the day that the tennis regulars would finally be coming back from their week of training, and everyone at the club was excited. Each of the tennis regulars' fan-clubs already set a 'welcome back' party up for them at the tennis courts.

The fan-girls were all giggling madly hoping that the tennis regulars would finally notice them while the club members were just nervous about the reactions the entire party would get from the team.

What they didn't expect however was the person walking to the courts with the regulars while having an arm linked with Ryoma's.

Fan-girls all over the tennis courts stood shocked as the girl happily chatted with Ryoma and the rest of the regulars. Immediately feeling jealous, they all sent her death glares which, if looks could kill, would have killed her nearly a hundred times over.

* * *

><p>Glancing over at the courts, Rose couldn't help but regret her decision as she saw all the glares directed at her. She couldn't help but stop on the spot when she felt the glares intensify on her. When Ryoma nudged her side slightly to ask her what was the matter, she could only slightly incline her head at the courts where the fan-girls were.<p>

Turning their heads to look in the direction she pointed, the entire team of regulars saw the glares that the fan-girls were giving Rose as well as the nervous looks that the club members were giving them.

Ryoma couldn't help but give a slight glare toward the fan-girls for scaring his partner on her first day of being at their school. Luckily on the way back to the school, he, Rose, and Tezuka talked with Ryuuzaki-sensei on the phone about getting Rose into Seigaku while she stayed with Ryoma's family.

The fan-girls couldn't help but be shocked at the glare given to them from Ryoma. As soon as they got over it however, they were asking questions left and right. "Who is she? Why is she here? What's her name? Is she Ryoma-sama's girlfriend? Where is she from?" and etc.

It took nearly a half hour to fully introduce Rose to the entire crowd as Ryoma's girlfriend and a new student at Seigaku.

"What? You are Ryoma-sama's girlfriend?" one random fan-girl screeched out making many of the crowd cover their ears except for the other fan-girls.

Rose nodded slightly from where she was next to Ryoma in the middle of the court. '**Strange classmates you have don't you?**' she thought to her supposed 'boyfriend'.

'**You have no idea,**' Ryoma internally groaned before beginning to mentally tell her about everything that had happened in the school year so far with them.

* * *

><p>"Let's start practice everyone," Tezuka said motioning the fan clubs to get off the courts to allow the tennis players to have room for practice. The only girl allowed inside of the courts was Rose as she stood next to the tennis gates.<p>

"What is Rose looking for Echizen?" Oishi said noticing that Rose was moving her head to look around everywhere with a blank stare.

Ryoma just shrugged before mentally asking her, '**Is something the matter Ro-chan?**'

Rose glanced over at him for a moment before replying, '**It's nothing Ryo-kun.**'

Ryoma shrugged yet again before following his teammates to run around the courts for their laps.

'_I can't help but think something is going to go wrong today,_' Rose thought to herself as she continued to look around the area.

That's when she felt it.

Widening her eyes at the sense, she glanced over to the roof of the nearby building. She couldn't see it very well as she didn't dare turn her head to alert anyone, but she could see a silhouette of a figure standing on the rooftop. Focusing her sense on that one presence, Rose tried to see who the person was and whether it was a threat.

Glancing back toward the court, she noticed Ryoma in first place for the laps running toward her.

The regulars were not able to run outside the courts due to the fans, so they all settled for running inside the courts.

As soon as Ryoma passed by her, she harshly grabbed his arm and pushed him away from the running track and closer to the middle of the courts.

The fan-girls were furious about the harsh push and yelled, "What do you think you are doing to Ryoma-sam-"

The sound of something flying through the air interrupted the fan-girls before the sound of something hitting the floor made its way into their ears.

"Eek!" the girls all yelled backing away from the courts once they saw what had hit the ground.

The boys all took a step back except for Ryoma who was frozen in place along with the regulars at what they saw in front of them.

Embedded in the ground was a knife made of the darkest metal they had ever seen.

"Taking a look at the way it is embedded, if Rose hadn't had pushed Echizen away in time, that knife might have killed Echizen…" Inui concluded before writing it down in a notebook getting sweatdrops from everyone in the area.

Ryoma snapped out of it and turned to Rose. What he saw made his eyes widen.

Rose was holding onto her arm that she used to push him away from the running line. She was clutching it tightly, but he could still see a bit of red seeping through her fingers.

"Are you alright Ro-chan?" he asked aloud getting everyone's attention.

Rose had one eye closed in pain as she gritted her teeth. "I'm fine Ryo-kun. I'm fine," she answered him trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible. Luckily, she had pushed Ryoma out of the way in time to avoid letting him get killed, but she couldn't get away in time to get away herself which led to the knife cutting a gash into her arm.

Ryoma went over to Rose and forced her to stop clutching her arm and show him the gash.

"Oh my goodness!" one of the girls yelled covering her mouth from what she saw along with several other girls.

"Someone get the first aid kit!" Oishi yelled out running over to Rose with a cloth he had grabbed from a random club member who held it out. Making it to the girl, he wrapped the cloth around the gash in her arm tightly in order to stop the bleeding.

"Get her to the nurse Echizen," Tezuka ordered inclining his head toward the nurse's office.

Ryoma nodded before taking Rose's uninjured arm and leading her to the nurse's office. '**I'll give you a tour of this school later Ro-chan,**' he mentally told her as he realized that she didn't know the school routes at all. He felt Rose give him a mental nod before they finally made it into the building.

* * *

><p>"What happened?" the nurse asked getting a large roll of bandages and untying the cloth around Rose's arm. "Hold your arm out for me dear," she said gently with a worried face. As soon as Rose did what she was told, the nurse started applying disinfectant on the wound getting a hiss from Rose. "I'm sorry dear, but this will help against infections. Care to tell me what happened darling?"<p>

Rose glanced over at Ryoma asking him, '**Should we?**'

Ryoma gave a slight shrug as his answer.

Rose nodded slightly before explaining, "I was watching Ryo-kun practice with his team until I saw something in the corner of my eye. It turned out to be a sharp knife that was flying toward Ryo-kun. I pushed him away and saved him from being hurt and got this in his place," she pointed at the wound the nurse was currently taking care of.

"Oh my goodness," the nurse gasped accidently applying more pressure that intended getting another hiss from Rose. "Sorry dear," she said putting away the disinfectant and taking the bandages before wrapping them around Rose's arm. As soon as she was done, the nurse stood up saying, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to go get a report sheet for this."

"It's no trouble. Can Ryo-kun stay with me?"

"Of course dear," the nurse answered before leaving to get the papers needed for this incident.

"Are you alright Ryo-kun?" Rose whispered over to Ryoma to make sure no one heard them.

"Che, I'm fine Ro-chan. It's you I'm worried about," he whispered back. "Why did you risk hurting yourself when I was in danger in the first place?"

"It's because you are my partner Ryoma," she answered using his full name in order to prove how much being partners was important to the bond.

"What about it?"

Rose sighed silently at his question before answering, "Because you are my partner, my life is connected to yours."

"How so?"

"If you die, then so will I Ryoma," she whispered getting wide eyes from Ryoma. "Mythical animal partners, especially us dragons, will do everything we can in our power to protect our partner and keep them from dying a premature death."

"I see…"

"It's no big deal Ryoma. Mythical beings like me know the risks of a partnership."

"I should train with my own powers then," Ryoma whispered with determination lining his tone.

"What?"

"You are supposedly my girlfriend now. I have to protect you whenever other people are around, or they will know that something is up. I also don't want to rely on a girl the entire time."

Rose smirked before saying, "That is so like you. I will train you later. I have a feeling that whoever threw that knife at your earlier will try to get us again later."

"When should we star-"

"Shh! The nurse is coming back," Rose said silencing Ryoma so he wouldn't say anything more about the subject. It wouldn't do them any good to reveal the secret now of all times considering they had just gotten back from training and were just attacked as well.

"Is everything alright now?" the nurse asked coming back into the room with some papers under her arm.

"Everything is fine sensei," Rose said with a smile on her face.

"All I need you to do is sign here and fill out a small summary about what happened. The same for you young man considering you were also there at the time," she said handing a paper to both Rose and Ryoma to fill out along with two pens.

The two filled out all the information they could on the paper and made sure to leave out any details about the person who actually threw it.

"Make sure you change that bandage once every few hours so that it won't get infected with anything, and you should be fine within a week or two," the nurse commented taking the papers from them after they finished and putting it in a file for later.

"Thank you," they both said nodding to be polite before standing up and leaving to go back to the tennis courts.

'**Now who do you think attacked us?**' Ryoma questioned on the way back. When they were back in the nurse's office, the two had privacy, but now that they were outside and walking in the open, they had none; therefore they resorted to talking mentally over what had happened.

'**If anything, I bet the person who tried to attack you are the part of the same people trying to get me,**' Rose replied back walking closer to Ryoma and gently taking his hand into her own. Laying her head onto his shoulder, she said, '**We will need to start your training soon Ryoma…**'

'**I'll be ready for it Rose,**' he responded as he pet Rose's head and smoothed down her hair. '**When should we start?**'

'**We should probably start either tonight or tomorrow night.**'

'**Why at night?**'

"**Would you rather be caught during the day fighting?**'

Ryoma thought it over for only a second before giving a small shake of his head as a 'no'.

'**Then we'll train at night then,**' Rose concluded as they made their way onto the tennis courts.

Amazingly everyone one the fan-girls in the club stepped aside to form a clear path into the tennis courts. It may have been because Ryoma was there, or it may have been because Rose was there or maybe even both, but the two weren't complaining as they walked to the regulars across from them.

Everyone was scared though when Rose went to the knife embedded in the middle of the courts and plucked it out of the ground. Taking a look at the knife, she noticed the jagged edge along with her own blood coating the blade and a few spots of blood marking the ground.

"What are you planning to do with that Rose?" Oishi asked fearfully as he did not want to get near the knife that nearly killed their freshman regular.

"Take it to the police, so I can figure out who tried to hurt my Ryo-kun," Rose said with a glare on her face that shocked everyone in the crowd as they had never seen it on her face before. It disappeared before anyone could comment on it though as she turned around and walked back to Ryoma.

"So is there anything new Tezuka-buchou?" Ryoma asked once Rose made it back to him.

They both saw Tezuka nod before replying, "I decided to put Rose in as a regular after talking with Ryuuzaki-sensei while you were gone."

Widening their eyes, Ryoma and Rose glanced to each other before Ryoma started, "But I thought that girls…"

"…weren't allowed to play in the boys' tennis club," Rose finished with confusion on her face.

'_They are in synch, and they don't even realize it…'_ the tennis club thought as they stared at the two confused Seigaku freshmen.

"There is an old rule that allowed inter-gender tournaments, but it didn't start out well. No girl wanted to play with the boys, and they were just content with cheering on their school teams. The Tennis Association was thinking of removing the rule until Ryuuzaki-sensei called them earlier about Rose. They agreed to keep the rule just to see how it would work out with Rose on the team. We have permission from the Tennis Association and the principal of the school to allow Rose to play on the team along with us.

Rose and Ryoma blinked at the new information before snapping out of it. Rose said, "But what are we going to do…"

"…about having nine regulars on the team now?" Ryoma finished for her.

"Don't let your guard down everyone. We will figure something out," Tezuka replied. Before he turned to continue practice, he said, "However, we will be placing you two in doubles occasionally."

"What?" everyone yelled as soon as they had heard what Tezuka had said.

Eyebrow twitching, Tezuka ordered all of the tennis club members to run ten laps while making all the girls disappear from the area so that they could continue practice.

"I bet they should be thankful that it wasn't twenty laps," Rose whispered to Ryoma as they ran.

"Why is that?"

"I could see the twitch on his eye was a little bit less than what he normally twitches like. I think he went easy on the group today because of the party."

"I see…" Ryoma replied before continuing to run.

* * *

><p>However, during practice, no one could get out of their heads the event that nearly killed Ryoma.<p>

"I hope Rose will be alright from that wound," Oishi commented as he stared at the running pair in front of them.

"They will be fine Oishi-mama," Eiji yelled happily.

"I heard from Rose that the nurse said that she would be fine in one or two weeks," Fuji commented running up to the two.

"That's good to hear," Oishi sighed in relief. Looking back at the Mythology Pair, he commented, "Don't they look like they are in thought?"

The other regulars looked again to see Rose's eyes glazed over while Ryoma was staring ahead with unfocused eyes.

"How are they running like that?" Momo yelled out shocked.

* * *

><p>'<strong>We should prepare for those people soon Ryoma. I'm not sure of how much exact time we have until they strike,<strong>' Rose said mentally to avoid anyone hearing.

'**Right Rose. Oh, Rose?**'

'**Yes?**'

'**I heard from Tezuka-buchou before we started our laps that we should practice our doubles at home. He's planning to have us debut our double's pairing at the tournament next week.**'

'**Against who?**'

'**Some school named Shikon Junior High.**'

'**Alright then. We'll be ready for them,**' Rose said giving him a smile, both mentally and outwardly.

Ryoma gave a small nod before thinking back, '**We'll be sure to show them all who we are…**'


	8. Game Time

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Game Time<strong>

"Today's the day Ryo-kun!" Rose yelled happily as she jumped onto Ryoma's back lightly while the entire team walked around the area. She was wearing a Seigaku uniform of a tank white tank top along with blue shorts. She would not wear the skirt because of her tennis moves.

It was finally the day of the tournament against Shikon Junior High.

The regulars were all excited to join in the tournament. Not only did they have a new regular, but the entire tennis society would see the first female regular in a boy's team.

"Let's register for the competition everyone," Oishi said leading everyone to the registration table.

Rose and Ryoma were chatting with one another during the entire walk over…not that anyone noticed considering…

'**Are you sure about today Rose?**' Ryoma asked silently.

'**I am one hundred percent sure Ryoma. I have a sick feeling in my stomach, so I'm pretty sure that _they_ are coming…today…**' she responded with a solemn tone.

'**We've worked hard enough. We should be fine,**' Ryoma said taking her hand in an effort to try and comfort her.

Rose glanced at her 'boyfriend' and gave him a small smile in appreciation.

* * *

><p>"Are you two going to hurry up and register or not?" Momo yelled out to the two freshmen regulars behind them. He along with the rest of the team had finally noticed that the two were being completely silent and were in their own little world. It looked like the two were in deep thought about something, but they just didn't know what.<p>

"Coming!" Rose yelled before jogging over to the registration table where the others were with a smile on her face. "We're gonna win today right Ryo-kun?" she asked cheerfully…a little too cheerfully…

"Of course. When we are together, no one can beat us right," Ryoma answered while asking, '**Are you alright?**'

Rose nodded before replying, '**It wouldn't do any good to make the others suspicious and get worried over something…**'

Ryoma sent her a mental image of a nod showing that he understood before the team walked off to prepare for their matches.

* * *

><p>"Seigaku's Echizen-Ryu pair vs. Shikon's Hikari pair! Please come onto the courts!" the referee called out for the doubles two match.<p>

To say the crowd was shocked when a girl walked onto the courts along with Ryoma would be an understatement.

The two Hikari brothers made their way from their own team and walked onto the courts with a scowl.

"Is this a joke?" one of them questioned. He had brown eyes along with black short and spiky hair. He was wearing his school uniform consisting of a green polo shirt and white pants. "Who are you and where is this Ryu person?" he asked starting right into Rose's eyes.

Ryoma and Rose glanced to each other before rolling their eyes at the one in front of them.

Rose looked toward the other who hadn't said a thing when he saw her. In fact, he was looking her up and down as if assessing her potential. The man in front of her had hazel eyes along with red spiky hair that defied gravity. He was also wearing the Shikon uniform.

Smiling lightly at the boy, she held out her hand and greeted, "I'm Rose Ryu. It's nice to meet you."

He reluctantly took the hand and shook it before saying, "I'm Haru Hikari. That's my brother Spade Hikari," he said pointing over at his partner. "As you can tell, he is not taking the fact that a girl is here too well."

"What is going on here?" Spade yelled at the referee. "A girl is not supposed to play in a boy's tennis tournament!"

The referee gave a sigh before explaining the situation to the player. "There is a rule that allowed inter-gender tournaments. That law was passed a few years back. It's just that no girl has felt confident enough to play with the boys. This is the first time a girl has played in a male's tournament using that same rule."

Spade blinked in shock before glaring at Rose who smiled smugly in return. "Don't think I will go easy on your just because you are a girl," he growled out.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Rose replied with a sly look in her eyes.

"It's Shikon's serve first," the referee called out.

Rose stepped away from the net and made her way to the back of the court. '**Let's crush 'em Ryoma.**'

'**Will do,**' Ryoma replied with a smirk.

"Shikon to serve!"

"You're going to wish you never joined the tournament!" Spade yelled before serving.

The serve was fast but not fast enough for Rose who was in the back. She returned it with a backhand and successfully scored a point with a return ace.

The two on the other side of the court couldn't move because of their shock at her being able to return the serve. They were also shocked at how fast the girl had reacted. They didn't even see her move. All they saw was her standing still until the ball hit the court, and then she was right there returning the ball.

"She's fast…" Spade commented staring as the girl straightened into a normal posture.

The first game was won by Rose and Ryoma just by return aces alone.

* * *

><p>"Seigaku to serve!"<p>

"Your turn Ro-chan," Ryoma said tossing a tennis ball to her for her serve as he made his way to the front near the net.

"Right Ryo-kun," she replied catching it with her right hand. Bouncing the ball with her racket in her left hand, she threw the ball into the air saying, "Let's do this." Throwing it high into the air, she raised her leg high enough to where it looked like she was doing a split in the air.

* * *

><p>"No wonder she chose not to wear the skirt," Momo commented leaning on the railing.<p>

"What do you think she is doing right now?" Oishi asked looking at Rose's position. "I don't recognize that position of hers."

"We'll just have to see won't we?" Fuji asked opening his eyes slightly to take a look at the court.

* * *

><p>Rose served the ball over the net and watched as the opponents ran after it to return it. She smirked as she knew that they didn't know what they were getting themselves into.<p>

The ball went over the net and landed onto the court was the predictable part. What they didn't predict was that the ball started rolling around the court in several circles that grew smaller and smaller until it reached the 'center' and flew straight up into the sky.

Spade and Haru were too shocked to hit the ball back when it landed at the baseline.

* * *

><p>"What was that?" Momo said learning over the fence more.<p>

"Cyclonic," they all heard Rose say aloud as she went back into a straighter posture. "Good luck returning that," they heard her say.

"Why is that huh?" one of the Shikon members yelled aloud.

* * *

><p>Ryoma smirked before explaining, "Depending on which way she twists her wrist, that move can go in any direction she desires."<p>

"What?" Spade yelled staring as the girl prepared to serve again.

"Let her show you. That shot went counterclockwise…"

"So now I'm going to show you clockwise," Rose finished with a smirk before serving once more.

Once again, the opponents couldn't even reach it considering they didn't know where it was headed.

The second game was won by Rose's serves along as she kept using 'Cyclonic'. She showed her different variations of it when she made it go counterclockwise and clockwise as well as whether the ball would circle toward the center or away from the center.

Without seeing how she twisted her wrist, it was nearly impossible to know how to return it. You would have to notice any patterns in the way she twisted her wrist and for that to happen, you would either need to practice with her daily or have really good eyesight.

* * *

><p>"I've never seen that move before!" Eiji yelled as he stared at the courts. "She's good!"<p>

"What do you think Tezuka?" Fuji asked their captain.

"She has her own style…she also seems like she is hiding something," Tezuka commented staring at Rose.

* * *

><p>"Your turn boys," Rose said with a smirk as she stared at her opponents from over the net.<p>

"You are going to pay for that," Spade growled out. "We'll show you why we are called the Power Pair of our school."

"Calm down Spade," Haru commented. "That's what she wants you to react like…angry."

"Fine, I'll try to calm down," Spade whispered before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Let's show them who is in charge."

"Shikon to serve!"

"Mark it!" Spade yelled serving the ball over the net with all the strength he had.

Ryoma was in the back this time at the right side while Rose was at the front left side of their side of the court.

"Ryoma!" Rose yelled as she noticed that they had aimed the serve at him.

"Ryoma!" she heard the Seigaku regulars yell.

* * *

><p>Ryoma stood frozen in his spot. He knew that he couldn't hit it back, but he also knew that it was going too fast for him to dodge it fully. He readied his racket in order to return it only to be shocked afterward.<p>

"Rose!" he yelled seeing the girl with her racket in her hand as she stepped in front of him.

Rose stepped onto her right foot before pivoting in order to hit the ball with her racket's sweet spot and then used the force of her pivot in order to send the power serve back at the opponents.

Spade and Haru were shocked that their most powerful serve was returned by the girl.

"What is she?" Spade asked as he watched the girl fall to her knees while clutching her left wrist.

* * *

><p>"Are you alright?" Ryoma asked with worry lacing his every word as he took her wrist into his hand.<p>

"I'm fine Ryo-kun," Rose said gently rubbing her wrist. "It's fine see?" Rose showed her hand to her partner. She started twisting her wrist and then threw her racket into the air before catching it. "My wrist will be fine until the end of the match, so let's finish it!"

"Alright then," Ryoma said helping her up from the ground.

"Echizen!" they heard causing them to turn around toward their team.

Ryoma caught something in his hand that the team threw at him. Taking a look, he noticed that it was a roll of bandages.

"Use that to wrap around Rose's wrist for now! It'll help!" Oishi yelled at them closing the first aid kit he had brought out.

Ryoma could only nod before taking Rose's wrist gently and wrapping it in the bandage tightly but comfortably.

As soon as he was finished, Rose tapped her wrist gently before nodding in appreciation and said, "Let's finish this Ryo-kun. Just because they hurt my left wrist doesn't mean they'll win." She then switched her racket to her right hand.

"Right," Ryoma said.

* * *

><p>"Hah! She's not going to able to play too well with her right hand! She's left-handed isn't she?" Spade yelled over to his brother without looking at him.<p>

"Maybe…" Haru commented staring at Rose. '_That smirk of hers is unsettling…'_ he thought to himself as his brother started to serve again.

"Take this you brat!" Spade yelled as he served again.

* * *

><p>This time Rose smirked at Spade before rushing over to return the serve. Using her right hand, she pivoted on her foot again and slammed it back to the other side of the court.<p>

"Take that!" she yelled returning the serve.

"What in the world?" Spade yelled as he dodged the incoming return. "I thought she was left-handed!"

Looking at both Ryoma and Rose, he saw them smirking at the opponents.

* * *

><p>"Looks like you underestimated Ro-chan," Ryoma said swinging an arm around Rose's shoulders.<p>

"Just like how Ryoma usually plays with his right hand but is actually left-handed, I play with my left hand…even though I'm actually right-handed," Rose explained with a smirk on her face as she stared at her opponents.

"Good luck beating us now," they both said as they went back to their positions to continue the match.

* * *

><p>"We are toast aren't we?" Haru asked his brother as he stared at the two opponents. "I don't think we can handle two people that can use ambidexterity in a tennis match…"<p>

"Neither do I…but we can go down trying!" Spade yelled before serving again.

* * *

><p>The game continued but ended poorly for Shikon.<p>

Considering Ryoma's and Rose's bond with each other, they were able to predict each other's moves. They had won the game six games to zero luckily.

* * *

><p>With that doubles game one, doubles one and singles three went by quickly. Ryoma's and Rose's pairing was new, so they were still learning how to work as a doubles pair. The others were more experienced in the slots they were placed under, so therefore, their matches went by more quickly.<p>

Next up…trouble…


	9. Hunter's Goal

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Hunter's Goal<strong>

The two teams, Seigaku and Shikon, made their way to the net in the middle of the court and shook each other's hands.

"That was a good match," Rose commented shaking Haru's hand as Ryoma did the same to Spade's.

"Same," Haru commented before turning to leave with his team. The Shikon team left the courts first after saying their goodbyes to Seigaku.

Seigaku was about to leave the courts until they noticed something. Turning back to the net, they saw Ryoma and Rose holding hands with their eyes glazed over.

"Echizen? Rose? Is something the matter?" Oishi asked worried for his two younger teammates.

Momo didn't ask a thing and just yelled, "Hurry up Echizen! We are going to be-"

He was interrupted when the two he was yelling at suddenly jumped away from each other and several items embedded themselves into the ground.

"What in the world?" Momo yelled stepping away from the court along with the others in the area.

Looking at the objects, the team noticed that they were several knives. Before they knew it, the entire court was being showered in them as Ryoma and Rose made a beeline for the sides of the court to remain safe along with their teammates.

"Looks like they have finally arrived Ryoma," Rose whispered under her breath so that only Ryoma could hear.

Ryoma nodded in reply before looking toward the court where five people suddenly came out of the trees and jumped into the middle of the court.

* * *

><p>"How pathetic," one male said as he looked around the area. Looking at the people cowering at the sides of the court, he said "You should at least know who we are before we exterminate the lot of you."<p>

The main person was wearing red armor that looked to be made from scales and leather. "My name is Shao. I'm a descendent of a famous swordsman and the leader of this group." He had bright red eyes along with short flat black hair to his shoulders. His armor consisted of a chest plate along with armor along his legs and arms with small armor plates covering up his hands and wrists.

Another male walked up with silver armor instead. It looked exactly like Shao's armor except for the color and the fact that this one had a mask over the lower half of his face. "My name is Betaes, and I work with knives." He had dark purple hair in spikes along with black eyes. "I'm the lieutenant of the group."

Next was a female who walked up in light purple armor. The difference in her armor was that instead of having armor over her hands, wrists, or legs, she had a pair of black gloves and black leggings. "My name is Tiaw. I work with poisons and darts mainly," she finished with a mocking tone as she narrowed her eyes at the group in front of them. She had dark black hair that went to her waist and was in a ponytail along with brown eyes.

The other female in the group walked up saying, "My name is Meiling, and I am the descendent of a famous archer." Her armor was a light green color and was only made of leather with no materials that even remotely looked like scales. She had light wavy brown hair to her chest along with hazel-colored eyes.

The last one in the group walked up. He had short blonde hair that was flat against his head to his chin along with light silver eyes. "My name is Aloc. My main weapons are spears." His armor was black in color and the difference between his armor and the others was that it covered his entire body besides his head. On the side of his head was a large black mask that could be easily moved to cover his face.

"We are the Dragon Hunters, and we'll eliminate everything in our way," the group of five said at once getting the attention of everyone in the area…not like they already weren't gaining attention anyway…

* * *

><p>"You are telling us this because?" many of the people in the area asked.<p>

"You have the one we want," Aloc said. "Now where are they?" he asked with a glare toward the group of teenagers.

"The one you want? What are you talking about?" Momo yelled out angry at the group of five for interrupting their way of going home.

Looking around the area, Ryoma and Rose noticed that everyone had already left the area leaving only the Seigaku regulars as well as the hunters to be the only ones left.

* * *

><p>"The dragon you fool!" Tiaw yelled at the tennis regulars. "Where is the dragon, and where is its partner?"<p>

"Dragon?" the hunters heard the regulars question. "What are you even talking about?"

"They don't know about the dragon?" Meiling asked in a calm voice as she looked toward Shao. "What should we do? They obviously do not know what we are talking about."

Before their leader could even respond, they all heard a yell.

* * *

><p>"Hey!" a voice yelled out causing everyone to turn to the source of the voice.<p>

Everyone turned to see Rose standing in front of a large bag with Ryoma right next to her. "Why are you even bothering looking for a dragon? They don't exist! They are only a legend! Even if the legend is true, how can there be a dragon after the massacre?"

"You say it doesn't exist do you?" Betaes questioned turning to the girl. "You couldn't be more in the wrong. True the legend states the massacre, but it also states the rumor of one living dragon. We are looking for it."

"Why?" Rose questioned. She needed to give Ryoma more time…she had to buy some more time.

"That is easy," Tiaw said with a wave of her hand. "We want to exterminate it for its skin of course," she answered with no remorse in her voice in the slightest. She actually sounded…cheerful! What the? "The scales especially make a good profit if they are given to museums and current weapon makers!"

Rose gulped at the new information with a grimace at the thought of it all. She hesitantly asked, "Why would you want to kill a dragon of all things? Surely there are other things you can kill for profit can't you?"

"That's another easy question," Meiling answered with a sigh. "There is another reason that we want to kill a dragon of all things."

"We have a belief about them," Aloc said with a glare. "Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power," they didn't notice Rose flinch, "they are violent and cruel," another flinch, "and they do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest."

"That's not true," Rose could only whisper to herself. She couldn't help but flinch at all the accusations made toward her kind. "That's not true," she repeated to herself one more time.

"We are the last remaining dragon hunters, and our goal is get rid of the last dragon in this world at all costs! The dragons will no longer be a creature of legend but a creature of hell!" Shao yelled out for the entire world to hear.

* * *

><p>"That's not true," Rose whispered once more. "They're wrong…completely wrong…all wrong," she whispered to herself like a mantra.<p>

She jumped a bit at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head a bit, she noticed Ryoma glancing at her worriedly. '**Don't worry about what they say Rose. You are none of those things. You know what happened. You know what's right. You know what story is the truth and which is the lie. Prove it to them.**'

'**Prove what?**'

'**Prove them wrong. Prove to them that the dragons are the creatures sent by heaven like they were once revered to be!**'

Rose looked at Ryoma with gentle eyes before nodding slightly. "Right," she whispered to him before taking a deep breath.

Turning to the dragon hunters, she yelled out, "Are you sure that the last dragon, if there is one, is anything like that? Are you sure that it may not be different?"

"There is in no way that any dragon would be different. The dragons were held sacred until the day they attacked us all and tried to destroy us. The old myths from the hunters say so. In order to prevent being destroyed, we had to destroy the very creatures we held dear in order to save ourselves," Shao explained.

"Are you sure that the same holds true for the last?"

"Most definitely. No dragon will ever be different," Betaes answered crossing his arms over his chest.

Rose narrowed her eyes at the group of five in a glare, something that scared her teammates considering she usually had a happy face.

* * *

><p>"What are they planning?" Aloc questioned quietly as he stared at the eyes of the girl. They were determined…but they were hiding something…what could it have been?<p>

"We'll just have to protect that last one of its kind won't we Ryo-kun?" they heard the girl question the one next to her as he finally pulled something out of the bag they were in front of.

"You seem to know about the dragon. Tell us, and we won't kill you," Tiaw said with an evil grin on her face. The others had an evil smirk on their faces as they pulled out their weapons.

Shao pulled out a thin white blade with a dark blue hilt with light blue wrapping around it. Betaes pulled out two dagger knives from his armor sleeves. They were both black in color with a red pattern carved into them. Tiaw reached into her leggings and pulled out eight darts in between each of her fingers. Meiling pulled a crossbow from a bag on her back, how did they not notice that? The crossbow was silver with black lining. The last one to pull out a weapon was Aloc who pulled out a spear with a pure white blade at the top with a beige hilt.

* * *

><p>"We aren't in the mood to negotiate with killers like you," Ryoma commented glaring at the five in front of them.<p>

"What are you thinking? Echizen? Rose?" the regulars yelled at their teammates. "What do you two have to do with any of this?"

The two questioned decided to ignore them and instead focus on the matter at hand.

"Let's go Ryoma," Rose said to her partner.

"Right," he replied handing Rose two items which she took.

"Looks like we have to fight after all," she commented closing her eyes and putting her hands with the two items close to her face. Soon after, she snapped her eyes open along with the two items in her hand to reveal two fans. They were black with dark purple blades sticking out of the fans at each spoke.

"It seems so Rose," Ryoma said turning to the hunters with his own weapon in his hands. He had a scythe in his hands that was as tall as him with a large curved blade with semi-circle indents at the base. The blade itself was silver with a black hilt and a dark purple swirl pattern on the hilt.

"What in the world is going on here?" Momo yelled at the two who kept ignoring him.

* * *

><p>"Hmm," Meiling hummed in amusement. "The two of you versus the five of us. Do you think you have a chance? We have more experience. We know how to fight whereas you have only had maybe a month's worth at most based on how you look. You think you can win?"<p>

"We won't lose," Rose replied with a narrowed glare.

"And why not?" Tiaw said cheerfully. "Obviously we are better than you, so just give it up already and tell us where the dragon is."

"We won't lose. Not against you of all people," Rose replied not backing down in the slightest.

"Good luck trying to win," the hunters exclaimed before charging at the two.

* * *

><p>"Let's go!" Rose yelled jumping into the air and diving down toward the hunters.<p>

"Right!" Ryoma replied before charging at Shao with his scythe in hand. He grabbed the hilt tightly swinging it behind him before throwing his arms forward to send the scythe in a forward side slash.

The hunters were stuck either getting hurt by Ryoma's scythe or Rose's fans.

"Not going to get us that easily you pesky fools," Shao commented pulling up his blade to block Ryoma's sword while Betaes used his two daggers to block Rose's fans.

"Scatter!" Shao yelled to his team.

"Right!" they all yelled before separating from each other and moving to their chosen opponent.

Ryoma was faced with Shao and Aloc while Rose was in front of Tiaw, Meiling, and Betaes.

* * *

><p>"Why me?" Rose wondered aloud to the three of them.<p>

"You seem like you know how to fight!" Tiaw exclaimed happily before throwing darts at the girl.

"Right~," Rose said jumping onto the gates surrounding the courts.

"Come back here coward!" Tiaw said throwing another round of darts at her.

Rose pivoted on her foot and dodged the darts. Before she could fall off, she bent her knees before pushing off the gate and throwing her two fans at the three hunters.

Meiling pulled up her crossbow before shooting off two bolts at the fans knocking them to the ground.

"Che," Rose scoffed with a small glare. "Now what do I do?" she asked herself as she landed on the ground. Her fans had fallen to the ground in front of the hunters. "Looks like I have no choice," she said crouching low on the ground.

"Aw, is the little girl scared?" Tiaw mocked with a wide grin. Tiaw had another set of darts in her hands waiting to be thrown as Betaes had his daggers with Meiling already loading another bolt.

"Not quite you fool," Rose replied with an angry tone before she shot off surprising the three. Grabbing her fans from the ground, she flicked them open before swinging her arms at them to release the metal blades from the fan.

* * *

><p>"Why is this happening to me?" Ryoma questioned as he blocked Shao's sword with his scythe before pulling the other end up behind him to hit Aloc in the gut. "I wonder how Rose is doing," he said before twirling his scythe around his body and hitting the two hunters on their sides forcing them back a few steps.<p>

"You should worry more about yourself than your fool of a partner," Aloc growled out before throwing his spear at Ryoma.

Pulling up the scythe behind him, Ryoma twirled the scythe in his hand creating a shield which deflected the spear to the ground.

"Left yourself wide open kid," he heard Shao whisper.

Glancing in front of him, Ryoma noticed Shao charging at him. Hearing something behind him, he also noticed Aloc picking up the spear and aiming at his head before throwing it again. '_I can't dodge or deflect them both in time!'_ he thought to himself as he glared at the both of them.

* * *

><p>"Ryoma!" the regulars yelled closing their eyes so they wouldn't see what would happen next.<p>

When they didn't hear a scream, they opened their eyes to see what had happened.

"Rose!" they yelled once they saw Rose right next to Ryoma, her back facing his side, as she held up her two fans to block both the spear as well as the sword.

"You idiot!" they heard Rose yell from her position. "Don't get caught in a trap that easily!" she yelled before deflecting the spear back at Aloc and throwing Shao off of her by forcing him away with her fan. "You could have been in serious trouble there!"

Ryoma scoffed before taking his scythe, swinging it in the air, and then swinging it to the ground to block a few knives coming their way. "Like you should talk?"

"What are those two doing? They can't fight!" Oishi yelled out worriedly. He was about to go onto the courts until he was interrupted.

"Don't interrupt them Oishi."

"Tezuka," Oishi said in a near whine. "We have to help them somehow!"

"We don't know what is going on though," Kawamura said shyly. "We might be getting into more trouble than we already are if we rush in now," he reasoned getting Oishi to calm down.

* * *

><p>"Stupid hunters," Rose said rubbing the wrist which had held the fan that blocked Shao's sword. "Nearly broke my wrist with that slash. Powerful brat," she commented before twisting her wrist to get rid of any cramps.<p>

"You alright?" Ryoma asked as he stepped in front of Rose.

"I'll be fine. It's just a bit of a scratch," Rose said before tapping her wrist to check it. "You are lucky I was able to get away from that Tiaw, Meiling, and Betaes. You were nearly a goner there."

"Way to be frank," Ryoma commented staring at the five hunters in front of them. "You sure seemed to give them a few scratches."

"Couldn't help it. The daggers were annoying," Rose commented. "The metal spikes from my fans did that to them."

"Do you think we should reveal the truth Rose? To everyone?" he questioned as he continued staring at the hunters for any surprise movements.

"It would be easier for the others to understand what is going on right now," Rose commented closing her eyes with a sigh. "Can't be helped then."


	10. Fight!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Fight!<strong>

"It would be easier for the others to understand what is going on right now," Rose commented closing her eyes with a sigh. "Can't be helped then."

Ryoma nodded in agreement before putting the butt of his scythe on the ground with the blade right above his head.

"You are going to regret every attacking my human partner," Rose growled out tossing her fans back into the bag. "No one, and I mean no one, hurts a creature of myth's partner!"

* * *

><p>"What?" they all heard the tennis players yell with wide eyes. "A creature of myth?"<p>

"What does that girl mean?" Meiling questioned with a narrowed glare at said girl.

"A partner? Do you think she's the dragon's partner?" Tiaw whispered into Shao's ear.

"There is only one way to find out," he whispered back before stepping back along with the others to see what Rose was about to do.

* * *

><p>"By the contract formed between myth and reality, I hereby release the divine powers of the ancients," Rose started to chant as she held her arms in the air. Turning her head to face toward the sky, she continued, "Release the elements from their everlasting slumber and release the powers of the heavens from their confinement. The myth that forever belongs to the sea and sky join together and fight with the reality that is the fire and earth. "<p>

Everyone saw Ryoma's and Rose's figures start to glow a pure white in color. The light blinded everyone until it shattered revealing two figures.

"Release our true intentions to show the one belonging to the light," both figures finished the chant at once as they both opened their eyes to stare at the hunters in front of them.

* * *

><p>"What the!" Eiji yelled stepping back from the courts.<p>

"That's definitely not normal," Oishi commented staring with wide eyes at the courts.

They could obviously tell that one of the two new figures was Ryoma because of the hair and golden-eyes.

Instead of the Seigaku regular tennis jersey however, they saw that he wore a black sleeveless top along with a pair of black pants. His tennis shoes were replaced with black armored shoes, and his cap was nowhere to be seen on him. The shirt had purple lining the collar and along the hemming. There was a dark purple stripe from his left hip all the way down to his left ankle where the pants ended where the line continued on the shoes.

The other figure revealed from the light…that was a sight to see. No one could actually believe it was there, right in front of them, breathing, living…there…

A creature of legend stood in front of all of them.

"I can't believe that they still exist…" Kawamura said with wide eyes.

* * *

><p>"So she was the dragon huh?" Meiling commented to the hunters as she stared at the creature in front of them.<p>

"Seems about right!" Tiaw cheered happily. "We finally found our prey!"

Shao hummed as he stared at the girl turned creature.

A serpent-like creature with scales the darkest black he had ever seen. There was a purple mane on what seemed to be the neck of the dragon. It had two pairs of skinny legs where the mane ended and before the tail of the dragon began. White claws and teeth gleamed in the light and contrasted with the dark colors of the dragon. On its head were two horns that curved inward as they pointed in front of the dragon.

The dragon glared at them all before allowing its purple bat-like-wings to spread out over the court. Now that the hunters took a good look at the length of the dragon, they noticed that the wingspan of the dragon was large enough to cover the entire court and even further if needed. They also noticed the dragon's body winding in a zigzag pattern around the court. If straightened out, they guessed that the dragon would be long enough to wind around the perimeter of the tennis court at least twice.

"So she is the dragon," Betaes announced to the entire crowd, "which means that boy," here he pointed at Ryoma with a dagger, "is the partner."

"Hey kid!" Tiaw yelled across the courts.

"What?" they heard him reply with an angry tone and a glare which was mimicked by the dragon behind him.

Here Tiaw smirked before replying, "If you don't want to die young, then I suggest that you leave the dragon for us to destroy!" She thought she had him with the threat. There was no way that the kid would stand up for the dragon. Practically everyone in the world had heard about the myth of the dragons. No one would dare stand up for a-

* * *

><p>"There is no way you are even going to lay a finger on Rose!" the tennis team heard Ryoma yell back interrupting Tiaw's thoughts while raising his scythe and positioning himself to fight.<p>

"What are you thinking Ryoma?" they commented to themselves as they continued to stare. "Run!" they yelled out to the boy. "There is no way you can fight them all off at once! Rose isn't here anymore! Just run! Don't risk yourself for a myth! Don't risk your life for something that will hurt you in the end!"

"You're wrong!" they heard Ryoma yell back.

Before Ryoma could do anything else, they heard a female voice yell out, "You are in no way endangering my partner! You may think of me as an evil creature of hell, but if you even dare try to hurt my partner, you will have to kill me first!" she ended with a roar.

With that said, more like roared, the team saw the dragon release a mist-like vapor from its mouth which surrounded the entire area.

"It's freezing Oishi!" Eiji yelled before clutching to his doubles partner for warmth.

"What is going on?" Kawamura asked looking around the area.

Pretty soon the group got their answer.

* * *

><p>"Dragon Flight," two voices said at the same time once the fog cleared away from the area.<p>

"What in the world?" they heard Betaes comment once he saw what was revealed.

On Ryoma's back were two wings with several single feathers sticking out from the base of his back. The feathers spread out and were curved and pointed at the ends. They looked like birds' wings except for one thing. These wings were made of ice.

"So that is what dragon armor given by the dragons is like," Meiling said calmly. "It seems powerful. Now I see why humans would dare accept a creature of hell's partnership."

* * *

><p>"Must they say such hateful words," the dragon growled out shaking its head as it stared at the ground.<p>

Ryoma just shrugged before flying on top of the dragon's head between its two horns.

The dragon raised its head to be easily above the tennis fence around them. Staring at the dragon hunters, the dragon growled loudly with narrowed eyes.

"Let's do it," Ryoma commented placing the butt of his scythe on top of the dragon's head right above its two angry yet caring eyes. The scythe blade was facing toward the dragon hunters in front of the group.

"Let's," the dragon said opening its mouth showing off two large fangs where a white orb formed.

Ryoma closed his eyes and concentrated on the scythe in his hands until a red orb appeared in front of the scythe tip.

"Scorching Strike," Ryoma said raising the scythe above his head before swinging it down to throw the red orb in front of him.

"Heavens Cannon," the dragon roared at the same time as it released the white orb from its mouth.

The two orbs were sent crashing into each other before releasing the elements within them.

The fire orb released fire embers which were blown stronger by the wind released from the white orb.

"A heat wave?" Tiaw yelled covering her face from the waves of heat flying toward the hunters.

"Let's move!" the dragon yelled forcing its head up to throw Ryoma off and then flew off at the hunters. Ryoma stopped in mid-air above where the dragon used to be and readied his scythe. He spread out his wings to create a wingspan around ten feet long.

Stopping in mid-air, the dragon threw its tail at the group from the side hoping to knock them out.

Two hunters however saw the attack and successfully got their other teammates out of the way by jumping above the tail.

Ryoma had already seen that coming and flew at them all with his scythe raised above his head.

* * *

><p>"You aren't going to defeat us that easily," Shao commented raising his sword blocking Ryoma's scythe and throwing the freshman back toward the tennis fencing while Tiaw sent darts flying at Ryoma successfully hitting him. Betaes had also sent some daggers flying at the boy which hit him in the arms.<p>

"Argh!" Ryoma yelled as he was thrown back against the fence.

"Ryoma!" the dragon yelled before extending one wing to catch him gently before he crashed into the fence. "Are you alright?" the creature asked as it gently let Ryoma down onto the ground before it moved back closer to him and away from the recovering hunters.

"I'll be fine," Ryoma replied shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness in his head.

While the two were distracted with checking Ryoma's well-being, the dragon hunters charged at the pair and swung or fired their weapons at the two.

The dragon snapped its eyes in their direction before coiling its tail around Ryoma to protect him while covering itself with its wings.

As soon as the weapons made contact with the dragon's body, it roared out in pain.

* * *

><p>"Rose!" Ryoma yelled from where he was being protected. He could hear the anguish and pain in her roar when the weapons struck.<p>

"That's Rose?" the regulars asked once more before looking around the area. Rose was nowhere to be seen. Ryoma called the dragon 'Rose' and even those so called 'hunters' believed that the dragon was the girl.

"What do we believe nya," Eiji asked his doubles partner as he stared at the battle.

"I don't know Eiji. But I think that it's true that the dragon is Rose," Oishi said staring worriedly at the dragon. He couldn't help but be worried about all the slashes and wounds that were on the dragon thanks to those attacks.

"Rose! Come on! Throw them off!" they all heard Ryoma yell.

"Come on Rose! Beat them!" Momo yelled startling the rest of his teammates. After getting a look, he explained, "If Ryoma trusts that creature to protect him, then I will too!"

"Come on Rose! I know you are stronger than this! Fight them off!" Ryoma yelled at his partner.

"Right!" she yelled back before forcing her wings to spring open sending the hunters flying toward the fence.

* * *

><p>When the five hunters stared at the dragon-human combo, they saw the two glaring at them.<p>

"We are currently overmatched aren't we?" Aloc commented as he glared at the two.

"It seems so…" Shao replied dropping his gaze from the duo to turn around. "We'll leave now, but be sure that we will get you later creature."

Before they could even walk away, they heard the dragon roar, "If you want to kill me, make sure you get your facts right hunters! Your people were the ones that attacked my species first you fools!"

The hunters decided to store that in the back of their minds. They couldn't help but think about the way she said that last sentence. Something was wrong, but they weren't going to dwell on it now. They left without another word said to the fighting duo.

* * *

><p>With them gone, Rose was finally able to sigh in relief before looking around the tennis courts. "It's not that much damage," she commented fixing up any broken fences and dusting off any debris from the court.<p>

"That was tiring," Ryoma commented as Rose released the transformation. The two immediately collapsed from exhaustion. "Is every fight going to be this tiring?" he asked her partner who was on sitting on her knees on the ground.

"Just the first one considering it's the first time we partnered as fighters," she replied back before taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Are you alright?" Ryoma asked seeing the wounds on Rose's arms, shoulders, and legs.

Rose hummed in confusion before looking down at herself and blinking at the wounds. "I guess I could use a patch up," she commented with a small laugh made to lighten up the situation.

"You are crazy," Ryoma said shaking his head before he noticed their teammates walking toward them.

* * *

><p>"Do you two need some help?" Oishi asked holding out his hands for the both of them to take. He smiled at them when they each grabbed a hand and pulled themselves up from the ground.<p>

The two were a bit worse off than he realized because as soon as the two let go of his hands, Rose immediately slumped over only to get caught by Ryoma.

Kaidoh and Kawamura helped Ryoma and Rose get onto the benches in order to get Rose patched up.

"When did this start Echizen?" Momo couldn't help but ask as soon as Oishi finished bandaging the last wound on Rose's arm.

"When did it? When did it?" Eiji asked jumping around the two like usual hoping to get an answer.

The two both sighed before glancing at each other. When they glanced back to the regulars, they were shocked to see the serious expressions on all of their faces. It looked as if one wrong word would set the group off.

"I'll explain it because it is my fault after all," Rose said with a sigh. Taking a deep breath, she started to explain. "This all started at Lake Virtue. You have all met me before actually at that lake."

"You were that creature I saw in the cave!" many of the regulars yelled in surprise.

Rose nodded before continuing, "I am sure you have all heard the myth of the dragons." When she got nods, she continued, "I am that last remaining dragon from the rumors about that story. Ryoma is my partner and will be in the only partner in this world now that the other dragons are gone."

"So that is the reason why there were no more kidnappings after Echizen was kidnapped," Inui whispered to himself as he continued to write in his notebook.

"I am sorry for lying and betraying you. As you can tell, I am not his actual girlfriend but his partner," Rose commented looking down at the ground. "We had to keep it a secret to avoid putting you in any danger with the hunters."

"Why don't you explain how you were able to fight so well," Tezuka commanded with a stern glance at the two.

Rose gulped at the stare and realized she would have to choose her words carefully. "It all started the day we came back to Seigaku after the training at Lake Virtue…"


	11. Back Then

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Back Then<strong>

_Day of Arrival_

"Finally! It's time to go home," Rose commented stretching her arms above her head.

"Why are you tired? You didn't train any," Ryoma commented with a raised eyebrow at the girl.

"Still," she drawled out. "It was tiring." '**And I can't exactly train with my wound thank you very much,**' she commented to him mentally with a smirk.

Ryoma shook his head slightly before gently grabbing the girl's hand belonging to her injured arm. "Let's go home then," he commented leading her away from the school and in the direction of his house.

* * *

><p>As the two were walking, Ryoma couldn't help but ask Rose mentally, '<strong>Are you sure that my family will be okay with this Rose?<strong>'

Rose continued to walk with a smile on her face as she inched closer to Ryoma. With a caring look in his direction, she replied, '**It will be fine Ryoma. I told you before that their memories have been readjusted to include me in some memories. It will not change any major memories for now. It only added new memories into their minds as you explained the situation to the others at Lake Virtue. As long as we are bonded, the memories will adjust in order to make sure that no one will get suspicious of us.**'

'**Alright then Rose. I'm glad to know that my stupid oyaji won't bug me about this too much.**'

"I have a feeling that your Oyaji will bug you anyway with my return," Rose commented as they walked up to Ryoma's house and entered through the gate.

Ryoma opened the door for Rose to come in and yelled, "I'm home!"

"What took you so long brat?" they heard another yell from inside the house. "Did you finally find a girl after losing contact with Rose a few years ago?"

That one question cleared up any suspicion that Ryoma had about the memory adjustment working. His Oyaji didn't know who Rose was to begin with so hearing that question out loud from his own father made him realize that it wouldn't be a problem for Rose to stay with them.

"Hurry up and come in you brat!" they heard the same voice yell again.

"Baka Oyaji! I brought someone home!" Ryoma yelled back with an annoyed tone.

Suddenly a wind came up as Ryoma's father ran up to the both of them. "Who? Who? Who did you bring home with you?" the man yelled.

Rose took a look at the man in front of her and noticed that the images were right on the money about the man. He had short cut brown hair along with golden eyes just like Ryoma's and her own pair of eyes. He was wearing a brown monk robe with the top portion a bit open to show his chest, and looking down at the shoes in the front of the wooden floor, she could see the pair of sandals that belonged to him.

Nanjiroh looked to Ryoma's side and saw the girl. Looking the girl up and down, he noted the white hair and the golden eyes so similar to his own.

Even though he never knew the girl personally, his memories were adjusted enough to the point where he immediately yelled, "Rose-chan! You're here at last!" before he grabbed her up in a bear hug. "I was starting to worry about you when the brat said that he lost contact with you a few years ago!" Setting her down, he led, more like dragged, Rose inside the house into the living room.

All Rose could say was, "I'm sorry for losing contact with you Nanjiroh-san. Ryoma found me again at Lake Virtue during his tennis training camp after I returned from my own vacation trip."

"Is that Rose I hear?" they all heard two female voices shout from the kitchen before they appeared in the door.

A woman with brown hair in a ponytail came out with a kind smile on her face. She was wearing a pink shirt along with a white skirt. Another woman came out with her.

The girl looked to be a teenager and had long blue hair to her waist. She had a solid white shirt with a pair of shorts and a light blue jacket over her figure.

"You are finally home!" the two yelled before gathering Rose into a group hug.

"Hello Rinko-san. Nanako-chan," Rose greeted as she was nearly being hugged to death by the two females.

"How did Ryoma find you Rose?" Nanako asked hurrying to prepare some tea as the others made their way into the kitchen.

"Ryo-kun found me at Lake Virtue. I had just arrived back in America from my own trip and found out about your visit to Japan again. I didn't want to wait a year and flew over as quickly as I could. I got the location wrong and ended up near Lake Virtue where I stayed. Luckily, Ryo-kun's tennis team had training there a few days ago, and that is when he found me."

"You poor thing," Nanako cooed at the girl she found herself loving like a little sister.

"Why don't you go up and take a shower," Rinko suggested. "We'll call you down for dinner later. We'll make your and Ryoma's favorites."

"Thank you Rinko-san. Thank you Nanako-chan," Rose said with a smile before going up the stairs along with Nanako who led her up to the guest room.

"I'll let you borrow my clothes Rose," Nanako said walking out of the room and returning with a pair of nightwear for Rose.

"Thank you again Nanako-chan," Rose said with a smile as she took the clothes and made her way to the bathroom in order to shower.

* * *

><p>"I'll be working on my homework," Ryoma commented standing up as soon as Rose left to shower. Heading to his room, he closed the door silently before sitting at his desk to start.<p>

He was just working on it for around ten minutes until he heard someone say, '**Ryo-kun. What are you doing?**'

He was startled at first because he knew that Rose was still taking a shower if the running water was any signal to go by. '**I'm working on my homework from school. Why are you asking me while you are in the shower?**'

'**I got bored.**'

'**Really? You couldn't have waited to talk to me later. Isn't there more important stuff to talk about that what I am doing at the moment?**'

'**There is actually Ryoma. I need to talk to you about training.**'

Here Ryoma stopped writing and paid his sole attention on the conversation. '**What about my training?**'

'**Should we start tonight? You're practice wasn't too hard today. Maybe we can get in some training tonight.**'

'**Tonight?**'

'**Would you rather train in the day time where everyone can see?**' Ryoma heard as a reply before hearing the water turn off and the bathroom door open.

"Come in," he said aloud knowing that Rose was on the other side of his bedroom door. As soon as Rose entered the room and closed the door, he asked her, "What are we going to say to the others though?"

"We'll just go when they are asleep. We can train for as long as want for today. Meet me downstairs an hour after they've all fallen asleep."

"Alright," Ryoma said turning back to his homework.

"See you then Ryoma," Rose said walking out of the room in order to think of what to train Ryoma with.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Ryoma and Rose met outside of the house in their tennis gear.<p>

"It looks like we had the same idea for training equipment," Rose commented pointing at Ryoma's clothes and then her own.

"Let's go then," Ryoma said walking out of the house grounds and out into the streets.

"Let's go to the river nearby. There shouldn't be anyone there at this time of night," Rose said already walking in the direction of the river.

Once they reached the river, Ryoma asked, "What are we going to start with first?"

"The first thing is the elements. Do you know the basic four elements of the world Ryoma?" Rose asked holding up her two hands.

He answered her by listing what he knew. "Fire," she held up a finger of her left hand, "Water," she held up a finger from her right, "Earth," a second finger from her left, "and Wind," she held up a second finger from her right hand. "What about them?"

Rose gave a small smile before pointing her left hand at his chest with the two fingers extended while doing the same with her right hand to herself. "Fire and earth is your domain Ryoma just as wind and water are of mine," she explained before a small orb of light emanated from each corresponding finger.

A red orb along with a brown orb appeared from Rose's left hand before entering Ryoma's chest while a blue orb and a white orb appeared from Rose's right hand before entering her own chest.

"We'll first be working on your elemental control with the basics," Rose started jumping a few feet away from Ryoma before pointing at the ground below them. "The earth is your domain along with fire. The earth is the very ground you walk on, and the very thing that everything is built upon." Next, Rose looked around before pointing at an open shop down the river with a lit candle in front. "The fire is the very thing that gives life. Without fire, no one will have the heat required to stay warm throughout the coldest days. Fire gives us life as well as a sense of compassion. Fire is the very essence of emotion."

Turning back to Ryoma, she said, "Water and wind are of my domain. Water gives life to all. Without water, there can be no life as well. Fire and water work hand in hand in that aspect despite being complete opposites. Wind is the very air that you breathe. It can be the force of a gentle breeze which is calm or a destructive entity that will rock people's very world."

"So what do you want me to do?" Ryoma asked with a bored face.

Rose wasn't miffed in the slightest by his face. She knew how little emotion he showed and could tell that he was interested in the information that she just gave. It would take a little while for Ryoma to show emotion at any given time of the day…

"I want you to practice with your mind today. We will work on the elements later."

"How do you suggest I do that?" Ryoma asked staring at the ground.

"Try shaping it into a weapon," she answered.

"Like what?"

"How about…" Rose went through her memories of old dragon hunter weapons before she snapped her fingers with a smile and said, "How about a signature weapon? Each partnership requires signature weapons. I forgot to mention that. I already have mine," here she waved her hands in a circle over her head where Wind from the air and water from the river formed to create two fans. "These are my signature weapons. They will appear as long as there is air or water which is everywhere really."

"Alright then," Ryoma said with a nod before closing his eyes to concentrate his mind to form what he thought would be his own weapon.

A weapon in order to protect his partner was what he needed to think of at the moment. He just couldn't think of anything at the moment. He could only think of a curved blade with a long hilt and a pattern on the hilt.

"Congratulations Ryoma. You have your very own signature weapon now," Rose said snapping her fingers to get Ryoma out of his trance.

Opening his eyes, Ryoma saw the weapon in his hands. It was a scythe the same height as him with a silver curved blades and indents near the hilt. The hilt itself was black with a dark purple pattern on it.

"This is my weapon?" Ryoma said holding the object up to see it in the moonlight.

Rose nodded before saying, "As long as there is earth or fire around, your weapon will remain."

"So therefore as long as there is land or life…" Ryoma commented.

Rose nodded once again with a small smile on her face before it turns into a serious expression. "Let's practice then," Rose said snapping her fingers.

Ryoma didn't know what happened until he was surrounded by several figures made of water. "What now?"

"Fight them," was the only response he got from his partner before the girl swung her hand to point at him causing each of the Water figures to attack.

"This is not going to end well," he commented before slashing each figure one by one.

* * *

><p>By the time each of the figures were slashed through and splashed across the ground, a good two hours had already passed.<p>

"Are we done for today? It's already midnight…" Ryoma commented placing the butt of the scythe on the ground and yawning behind his hand.

Rose nodded before waving her hand over the area returning the water back to the river and cleaning up the entire area to avoid any suspicion. "Let's go home then," she said turning back to Ryoma only to smile.

Ryoma was a bit too tired as he was using the scythe as a stand to rest his hands. He was fast asleep with his head on top of his hands.

Giggling, Rose went over and waved her hand over him allowing the wind to carry him off without startling him too much. With that done, she started walking while making sure to keep one hand under Ryoma at all times to keep the wind flowing around the boy.

Reaching the house, Rose noted that all of the lights were off. It looked like she wouldn't need to worry about getting in trouble with taking Ryoma out late that night. She used her other hand to command the wind to open the window to Ryoma's room before jumping through along with Ryoma. Settling him into his bed, she tucked him in with a small smile on her face before leaving the room with a whispered, "Good night."

* * *

><p>The following days were the same. The two would go home after practice and finish their homework before leaving to go back to the river for training. It would always happen the same way.<p>

Ryoma would question what they were working on and Rose answered. She forced him to think about the way he could use the elements for his own ability.

Rose had already trained with her elements because of being stuck in the cave for so long. She trained herself mentally and now she was just training physically to match it.

During the six days remaining until the tournament match against Shikon, Ryoma would switch between training his weapon, his element of fire, and his element of earth.

After those six days had passed, Ryoma was set with the basics of those powers. He was able to shape the fire and earth around him to connect with his weapon.

"Why can't I use the elements on their own?" Ryoma asked during one practice late at night. He had noticed that Rose could use the elements away from her signature weapons but that she always forced him to combine his elements with his weapon for any attack or defense done with the two elements.

"You will need more practice to use them on their own. It is much easier to use the elements through a medium that out of thin air. Think about it. What if there was no actual fire in the area? It would be difficult to create a fire out of thin air. It is much easier to summon the fire out of your weapon," Rose explained to him. "Don't worry Ryo-kun. The day will come when you can use the elements without your weapon."

"Alright Ro-chan," he said before blocking another one of her fans with his flame-covered scythe blade. "I have a feeling that you are enjoying this torture of training."

"Maybe," was all he heard before he had to dodge another upcoming attack.

* * *

><p>Each day that they trained, somehow Ryoma would always somehow get hurt from the training whether it be from the element figures that Rose created for Ryoma to fight against or whether it was because she fought him as well. The two never really cared about the injuries because they would heal soon, and it wasn't as if it was done on a killing intent.<p>

This seemed to worry the regulars though as whenever they saw Ryoma change in the changing rooms, they would see the marks and pester him with questions.

In order to keep their training a secret, Ryoma would have to lie and say that while he and Rose were walking through town before being attacked by gangs.

This seemed to worry the regulars even more, but Ryoma and Rose both agreed that it was better to lie about the injuries than tell them the truth about everything.

It hurt the two of them to see their senpais so worried over them. They couldn't stop lying about it because the truth would shock them further. They wouldn't understand. They might have attacked each other because of the legend. After all…the regulars didn't know the truth about her species like they did…


	12. Why?

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Why?<strong>

Rose had just finished explaining everything ever since the team had gotten back from Lake Virtue. Glancing over at her partner, she noticed that he was about to nod off, so she put his head on her shoulder to rest a bit.

Ryoma yawned quietly behind his hand. He couldn't help it whatsoever. That was his first fight with anyone besides his own partner, and it was tiring to think about all the possibilities that the opponents could try and how to counterattack it.

The regulars weren't able to speak at all as they were still trying to process all of the information they had just learned from the two in front of them.

"So," Fuji said breaking the silence as he stared at them sternly, a first for him. "Those injuries and scratches that you showed up with at practice," he said opening his eyes slightly which caused Rose to gulp. "They weren't from attacks as other gangs as you said before, but instead because of the training you two did on your own?"

Ryoma glanced at Rose, and she nodded slightly. They just knew that this wouldn't end well. They could tell his tone was one of a statement…not a question…

"Y-Yes Fuji-senpai," Rose answered timidly glancing down at the ground.

"So you couldn't even trust us enough to tell us the truth?" another questioned causing everyone to turn to the speaker.

Rose couldn't help but flinch back at the tears she saw in the male's eyes. Eiji didn't deserve to have that face on him. It just didn't belong. She didn't want to see the betrayal on his face. She didn't want to see the tears. She didn't want to see it at all.

"Let me explain," Rose said immediately. "Ryoma wanted to tell you all about it at first but realized after seeing my memories that it was too dangerous for you to know. We knew you would be in danger if you did know the truth, so we decided that it would be best for only us to know and-"

"And so you decided to lie to us!" Momo finished her sentence with his own thinking.

Rose flinched from the accusation, no matter how true it may be, and instantly looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry…" she whispered.

"Sorry can't make up for you lying to our face when we trusted you," Fuji replied with a growl. "How do you know what else you aren't lying about? How do we know you are what you say you are? How do we know that you aren't the monster those hunters said you were?"

"How could you believe those hunters?" Rose yelled in disbelief as her head shot up in shock. Even Ryoma looked shock at that last question that Fuji said. "How could you believe that hunter who you just met over me who you have known for a week?"

"You've been lying to us all. How can we trust you after that?" Kawamura explained with a sad look on his face.

Rose took a look at all of them and noticed each of their looks. Eiji, Kawamura, and Oishi all looked sad, an expression that did not belong on their faces. Inui looked indifferent as he wrote on his notebook as if this didn't even matter except for data. Momo and Fuji looked angry, but she couldn't blame them…she did lie to them after all… Even Kaidoh looked scarier than usual as he continued to hiss while looking away from her. Tezuka was what got her the most as he just stared at her. He hadn't even said a word but his stare scared her to the very core. It held no emotion and no sympathy at all…

Ryoma couldn't stand the accusations and yelled, "But-"

"No buts Echizen," Tezuka said interrupting the freshman and not giving him a chance to finish. "We trusted you two, yet you hid this behind our backs. What makes you think we would rather see you hurt? You let your guard down and nearly paid with your life. Do you think you can be a pillar of Seigaku while you hide secrets from everyone around you?"

"But-"

"Ryoma!" Rose yelled interrupting Ryoma this time.

Ryoma looked at his partner startled by the yell. He had to hide the flinch he had when he saw the pained look in her eyes.

"Let's just stop this petty argument. If they seriously think we hurt them, let them believe what they what. If they think they can't trust us after what happened today, let them do whatever they want," she said staring at the ground. '**We need to be strong Ryoma. We have to be.**'

'**But why?**' he replied back glancing at Rose's eyes. He could still see the hurt in them. It didn't look like the others noticed because of their anger.

'**With emotion shows weakness and weakness shows vulnerability. If we show even a little bit of how vulnerable we are because of this petty fight, it will lead to our death. Let's just stop before this whole entire thing gets worse. We need to go and tend our wounds more and replenish our magic…**' Rose answered with a sad tone in her voice.

Ryoma sighed aloud before nodding slightly. He took Rose's hand in his own and gently squeezed it before turning and walking away from the regulars.

"And where are you going?" Momo yelled after them.

"Back home!" Rose yelled not even glancing back at them. "If you can't trust us, we won't be in your way then. We will come to practice but nothing more than that. Until you realize why we lied to you in the first place, we will stay out of your way. If you even dare spill a word about what happened today, I will make your lives a living hell," she finished as she turned her head over her shoulder with a cold look in her eyes.

The regulars were shocked in their tracks at the glare considering they had never seen her use that look on them.

Ryoma could only glance at Rose's hands. He could feel how icy cold they were and knew that it wasn't because she was originally a reptile. Sure, she was one but her skin was always warm. They only got extremely cold when she was in pain, emotional or physical.

"Keep this a secret and no one will be the wiser!" Rose yelled again before turning and disappearing along with Ryoma.

"What…did we just do?" Oishi asked once he snapped out of his shock after seeing them disappear in front of him eyes.

"I don't know," Eiji whispered back.

"But I don't want to find out," Momo finished for him as he was thinking along the same lines.

"The reason for their lies?" Kawamura asked silently repeating Rose's condition in order for them to be on good terms again.

"What could that possibly mean?" Fuji asked his fellow teammates as he took his chin in his hand in confusion. "There is no good reason for lying."

"We can ask them tomorrow during practice," Inui muttered as he continued to write in his notebook about everything that had happened today.

The others could only sweat-drop at how he could be so calm in this situation.

"Maybe we can just try to talk to them again later?" Eiji questioned with hope clear in his voice.

"Yeah let's do that!" Momo agreed with a smile on his face. "They are bound to forget about this whole mess by then," Momo said cheerily hoping that would be the case.

Kaidoh could only hiss at the lot of them before saying, "After what we did to them, I wouldn't be surprised if that girl didn't want to talk to us at all."

"I have to agree with Kaidoh-kun," Kawamura said. "We just yelled at them after they risked themselves in a fight to protect us all. Who knows what would have happened if no one had spoken up…"

The others shivered at the thought. They saw the way the hunters fought and they didn't like it in the slightest. If Ryoma and Rose hadn't spoken up when they did…they might have all gotten hurt or even worse…killed…

"We will just have to wait and see what happens everyone," Tezuka said noticing that his team's thoughts were thrown around because of this entire situation. "Don't let your guard down," he warned everyone once again before walking away from the tournament grounds and back home to rest up for the next day's practice.

The others glanced at each other before nodding slightly and also went home in order to rest up for practice the next day.

* * *

><p>Back in Ryoma's bedroom, the window was thrown open before being caught from slamming into the wall by two hands.<p>

"Oof!" Ryoma yelped as he fell onto the ground of his room. "How do you do that again?" he asked his partner as he rubbed his lower back where he fell.

Rose gently closed the windows that were thrown open and turned to Ryoma's desk before answering, "My power of wind. It allowed me to teleport us both back home. I can only use it once every month though as it does take a lot of energy." She walked to Ryoma's desk before pulling out a small container she had placed there earlier in the week.

"What are you doing now?" Ryoma asked standing up from the ground and stretching his sore arms.

"Sit down on the bed please," Rose said ignoring his question for now. She had to get him healed or else the family would get suspicious. After all, the wounds they gathered were not wounds you would ever get from tennis…

"Right," Ryoma said understanding what she was doing now. This had happened once or twice before whenever Ryoma accidentally got a major wound from training with Rose. Sitting on the bed, he took off his shirt to reveal the wounds he had gotten in the fight with the dragon hunters.

Rose just started applying the gel-like medicine inside the container she grabbed and gently ribbed it into the wounds.

"What are we doing to do now?" Ryoma questioned in the middle of applying the medicine to any wounds on his back.

"What do you mean?"

"They don't trust us anymore," he said a bit sadly with a hint of regret in his voice.

"Don't sound so regretful Ryo-kun," Rose said sadly as she finished applying the medicine to his wounds. "You are making me feel as if I never should have met you," she added as she watched the wounds close up thanks to the magical properties of the medicine. She got off of the bed and kneeled in front of Ryoma and took his face in her hands before saying, "You know that I only want what is best for you Ryo-kun. It is certain that if we told them in the beginning, they wouldn't believe us in the first place and would have called us crazy. We have to survive Ryoma. We have to in order to protect you, your family, and your friends. Until they realize that simple fact, they have no right to have your trust Ryo-kun. Trust me Ryoma, I want to help you," she finished as she pulled Ryoma into a tight hug for comfort.

"Why is trust so hard to gain but so easy to lose?" she heard Ryoma whisper under his breath into her ear.

"That's the way life works Ryo-kun, and it can't be changed. Let's get you into a shower alright Ryo," she said letting him go from the hug and gently pushing him off the bed into the bathroom after handing him a pair of clothes. "I'll wait for you out here. You should have a bit of time to calm yourself down from both today's fight and the argument…"

"What about you?" Ryoma said after he closed the door.

"I'll be fine Ryo-kun," she answered leaning against a nearby wall. "I'll take a shower once you fall asleep. I want to make sure that you won't be fitful."

"Che, caring much?" Ryoma teased as he started his shower.

"What do you expect from your partner?" Rose said with an equally caring tone as she smiled, not that Ryoma could see.

"Che…thanks," he whispered loud enough for her to hear.

"It's not a problem Ryo-kun. I'll wait out here," she replied back with her smile widening a bit at the edges.

"Take a shower in the other bathroom while you wait. Your injuries are worse than mine, and you haven't even taken care of them yet," Ryoma said with a blank tone.

"You sure?"

"Che, you are so annoying when you care more for me more than your own self sometimes."

"I'm sorry. I'm just used to it. I wanted to make sure that you are okay. I'll come back after my shower then," she said leaving the room to go to the bathroom in the household.

As soon as Ryoma heard the door to his room close, he started thinking. '_What should I tell them all?'_ he thought to himself. '_Should I trust them even though they don't trust me? Rose said that I shouldn't trust anyone who doesn't trust me back just in case but…I don't know anymore. Sometimes I wish that this partnership was a lot easier…' _he thought with a sigh before finishing his shower.

After finishing, he changed into his nightwear and sat next to the window in his room and stared out the window until Rose would come in. He could still hear the shower running in the other part of the house.

* * *

><p>Rose came in a few minutes later after dressing in her own nightwear. She had her head down as she was still towel-drying her hair. "You okay Ryo-kun?" she asked as soon as she came in.<p>

"Completely fine," Ryoma answered as he continued to stare out the window.

Looking up slightly, Rose could see the uncertainty in his eyes. Smiling sadly, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck to provide comfort.

Ryoma leaned into the hug on instinct not minding how Rose's hair was still wet and got water over his clothes. He could feel that Rose's skin was soft even though she was injured during the fight earlier today.

"What's wrong Ryo-kun? You know you can tell me," Rose said closing her eyes and putting her head on his shoulder.

"Nothing's wrong Ro-chan," Ryoma replied as he lifted one hand to lie on the arms wrapped around him.

"You are a bad liar you know Ryo-kun. I am your dragon and your partner. I know that something is wrong based on your tone and your body language," Rose said pulling away from Ryoma to turn his face toward her with one hand before sitting down next to him on the window sill. "Tell me what is wrong," Rose said with a caring look in her eyes.

Sighing in defeat, Ryoma looked his partner in the eye and said, "I don't know what to do about this. Sometimes I wish that I hadn't even met you." He watched as her eyes widened in shock before they lowered in sadness. This is where he added, "But I'm glad that I did. I get to protect the people I find important." He had a small smile on his face as he watched Rose's eyes sparkle again with happiness and relief. He could tell that she was worried even without voicing anything. He wanted her to know that he was fine, but he couldn't find any words to express it. "What should we do about senpai-tachi?" he asked quickly trying to change the topic.

Rose's eyes went back to a sad state before she looked out the window for a bit.

Ryoma stayed silent as he watched her. He knew that the girl was thinking about what to do. It felt like she was doing all the work because she was the one making sure that he didn't get too hurt and that they would remain safe.

Rose turned to Ryoma and pulled him into another hug before saying, "If they cannot trust us, we might have to wipe their memory about the battle and about me. If we do though, there is a chance that they can remember what I can make them forget. If they do remember it and know the fact that I wiped their memory, it might make them lose more of their trust in us. I want them to trust you more than anything Ryo-kun." She pulled away from him and placed her hands on his shoulders before staring him straight in the eye as she said, "I am the one that betrayed them Ryoma. You never betrayed them no matter what they say. I was the one to keep the secret from them and made up that lie. I'll figure out a way to solve this and get them back on your side Ryoma. Don't you worry."

Ryoma could only nod seeing the determination in her eyes. If he knew his partner at all, he knew that Rose would keep her promise no matter what happened. That's the type of person he liked…one that wouldn't go back on their word and did everything they could to fulfill a promise.

"Now just sleep Ryoma. You are going to need it for practice tomorrow," she said pulling away from him completely and leading him over to the bed.

Ryoma could only nod as Rose tucked him in again.

This had somewhat became a nightly ritual for the both of them after training. Rose would take Ryoma back home to take a quick shower after training to clean and patch him up. Afterward, Rose would tuck him into bed as if he was a child.

Ryoma didn't like being treated like a child by anyone, not even his own family, but for some odd reason, with Rose it felt fine…

"Good night Ryo-kun," Rose said leaving the room and turning off the light once she saw that he was fully asleep. She couldn't help but smile at Ryoma's sleeping form as he looked peaceful from her point of view. Her eyes softened before she whispered to the wind.

Closing her eyes, she left the room and closed the door quietly before opening her eyes to reveal a small glare as she whispered aloud, "Why is trust so easy to lose…"


	13. Awkward

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Awkward~<strong>

During the next week, practices were just plain…awkward for the entire tennis club.

Everyone noticed how Rose and Ryoma were always together more than ever. That wasn't the strange part though as everyone knew that the two were 'dating', and they felt it was only natural for the two to hang around with each other. The strange part to everyone was that they were practically avoiding the other regulars. Sure the two would say the morning greeting to them and do the normal training that the regulars did, but they pretty much avoided the other regulars like the plague if there was a chance that they could get away.

The members of the tennis club that had not seen what had happened after the tournament were dumbfounded. They kept wondering what was going on with the entire regulars team. They couldn't even think of anything that could happen that could change the relationships between the entire team overnight.

"What is with the tension?" one boy said to his partner as they continued their afternoon warm-up stretches.

"I have no clue. It was completely fine during the tournament," his partner answered before they switched roles in the stretching. "Something probably happened after the tournament to make them act this way," he concluded as he tried to reach his toes with his partner's help.

"Do you think they will get back to normal soon?" a nearby club member asked after overhearing their conversation.

"I hope so. The team is in shambles," another answered. "They won't even speak to each other besides the orders and greetings. If something doesn't get fixed soon, we can be sure that our team won't be the same and will most likely do horrible at the next tournament."

The club members that heard that conclusion could only gulp in worry. "I hope they make up with each other soon," they all whispered to each other as they stared in worry at the regulars.

* * *

><p>"Nya! The two keep avoiding us nya!" Eiji whined aloud to his doubles partner. Jumping on his partner's back, he added, "I can't even get close to Ochibi without getting a glare from Rose!"<p>

Oishi sighed before trying to pry his partner off of him. "I don't know what we can do Eiji. I can't get close to them either anymore. Even Fuji can't get close to them."

The regulars looked shocked before turning to Fuji who had a sheepish smile on his face. "I can't get close to her at all anymore. The last time I tried, I was just walking to the library yesterday during lunch period when I ran into them. She had a sweet smile on her face with her eyes closed before opening them and glaring a bit. Before she left, she gave me a small drink in a bottle. I didn't think anything was wrong until I drank it. It…"

The regulars were hanging on his every word. What could Rose have done to make the sadistic tensai of the team sheepish?

"It…made me have to go to the nurse's office in order to throw up. I didn't think anyone would ever find or make anything that I wouldn't be able to stomach…" he finished innocently with a bit of fear in his voice as he laughed weakly at the end.

The other regulars who heard the end gulped in fear before whispering, "Scary~!"

"So what should we do?" Momo asked silently to not attract attention from the other club members. They remembered Rose's warning, so if they spilled any information about what happened after the tournament… They did believe that Rose would be after them and make their lives a living hell…

The regulars could only glance toward the dubbed 'Mythology Pair' before suggesting, "Maybe they will come to talk to us if we keep quiet about it all."

"It couldn't hurt," Kawamura said as he sighed.

"Their name 'Mythology Pair' certainly makes sense now. I was at first confused as to why they would choose such an absurd name," Inui said writing more notes.

The others could only sweat-drop yet again at his behavior. '_How can he remain so calm about this?'_ was the thought going through several of the regulars' minds.

* * *

><p>"Like this Ryo-kun?" Rose asked yet again as she changed her tennis stance. In order to avoid talking with the regulars too much, the two decided to work on Rose's tennis form as it was a bit off.<p>

"Bend your knees a little more and don't tense up so much Ro-chan," he advised back as he watched her adjust her stance again.

"Should I try it again now?" she asked after switching her stance yet again. Seeing a nod from Ryoma, she watched as he went over to the opposite side of the court they were on.

"Here I go Ro-chan," Ryoma announced before serving the ball over to Rose.

She took her stance again before hitting the ball over the net harshly.

Ryoma knew what move she was trying out and didn't move in the slightest. He made the right choice as the ball flew to the baseline behind him before shooting back at the net. He sighed in relief that he was right not to move…if he did, he would have been run over by the shot.

"What do you think I should name it Ryo-kun?"

"What do you think?"

"Lined cannon?" Rose suggested throwing out the first thing she thought of. When she saw the questioning look thrown her way, she explained, "It lands at the baseline before shooting back at the net. It looked like it was shot from a cannon don't you think?"

Ryoma shrugged before giving a nod of approval at the name. "Let's get something to drink," he said before walking off toward the water fountains in the area.

"Okay," Rose commented cheerily as she followed him over. As soon as they were hidden from view, the two walked to the left of the water fountains into the bushes and trees surrounding the area. "What did you want to talk about Ryo-kun?"

"They haven't figured it out yet…have they?" Ryoma asked looking back toward the courts with a far off look in his eyes.

"I'm afraid not Ryo-kun," Rose sighed out. "They need to realize that we needed to keep the secret away from them for their own protection. Remember that if those hunters find any weakness to us, they will use it against us…and that will include the very people we know if we show weakness toward them. They have to figure that out for themselves before we even try to build up another bond. Until then, we can't risk being near them unless we want the hunters to have an easy shot at us…"

Ryoma just nodded slightly to show that he understood her reasoning.

"Is that injury on your shoulder still hurting?" Rose asked suddenly after a minute of silence. "That is the only wound that hasn't healed completely because of the battle," she said reaching up to Ryoma's shoulder and gently laying her hand on it.

"It'll be fine. I know for a fact that you have a few wounds on your back and legs from protecting us both during the fight that you haven't healed in the slightest," he said shrugging off her hand. "You should be more concerned about yourself Ro."

"I'm perfectly fine tending after you more than myself. And when did you start calling me Ro?" she asked with a curious look in her eyes.

"It's already been a few weeks since we first met, and we are practically best friends with everything so far. I might as well drop the honorific. I never liked them too much anyway," he explained with another shrug.

Rose smiled at him before explaining her own reasoning for tending to Ryoma more. "You are a human, and I'm a dragon. We heal more quickly than your kind Ryo."

Ryoma smirked before remarking, "Have it your way."

"Let me see the wound and see what I can do to help you," she said stepping up closer to him.

Ryoma shrugged off a part of his shirt in order to reveal his shoulder.

Rose couldn't help but flinch at the wound. She saw it earlier, but she still didn't like the fact that Ryoma got this hurt. On Ryoma's shoulder was a five-inch long wound from the dagger than Betaes had thrown at him sometime during the fight.

"I'm surprised that no one has seen this yet considering you guys usually change together," Rose commented taking out a small container from a pocket in her shorts.

"I'm glad that no one has seen this yet. Do you know how they would react?" Ryoma asked back as she started to gently rub the ointment inside the container onto the wound. "They saw me fight just barely a week ago and find out I'm a dragon's partner. How do you think they would react if they find out I still have a wound this large from a battle a week ago?"

"Be quiet and stop complaining so much," Rose said as she finished applying the ointment onto the wound. Flicking her partner's forehead, she said, "They will understand after a while Ryo. Just give them some more time to try to figure out the truth. If luck is on our side, they will help us. Let's hope they learn the truth before those hunters decide to attack us again."

"Right," Ryoma said with a sigh. Looking at Rose once again, he noticed something and commented, "Why do you have bandages over your arm?"

Rose glanced at her bandaged arm and replied, "Oh this? It isn't a wound from the battle."

"I can tell because the wounds from the battle are mainly on your back and legs," he replied back. "What are they and what happened?"

Rose sighed in defeat and explained. "While you were asleep yesterday, I transformed one of my arms and also grew out a small pair of wings. I plucked off a few scales and wing powder for the lotion I used on your wound," she pointed at the wound on his shoulder before continuing, "It's a special healing lotion based on the healing properties of a dragon's wing powder and in their scales."

"Doesn't it hurt you? I mean it is your scales and your own wings that you are plucking…"

"It doesn't hurt that much," she said unraveling the bandages around her arms. "See?" she asked holding her arm. "It's only a mark. It will be gone in a day or so."

"I'm surprised nobody asked about the bandage on your arm," Ryoma commented watching as Rose wrapped her arm up again in the bandages.

"I'm glad for the same reason you are glad that they haven't noticed your wound."

"Let's get back to practice."

"They are probably thinking that we ran off in order to avoid seeing them," she said jogging off in the direction of the courts.

"Probably," Ryoma replied before following Rose back to the courts.

* * *

><p>"Hey look! Ochibi and Rose are back!" Eiji yelled as he noticed Ryoma and Rose jogging back to the tennis courts.<p>

"That's good," Oishi sighed in relief. "I thought they left already because they wouldn't want to be near us anytime soon," he commented sadly glancing at the two partners occasionally.

"Nya! Don't say anything bad Oishi! You don't know what will happen!" Eiji yelled loudly back at his partner.

"Saa…look who is talking Eiji," Fuji replied with his chin in his hands. "With your yelling, those two will know that something is up. Look now, they are looking at us because of your yell," he said slightly inclining his head at the two freshmen before the two resumed their training once more.

"Sorry," Eiji whispered sadly as he stared at the other regulars. "I just want to know what is going on…"

"We all do," Kawamura replied as he stared at the ground.

"There's a high chance that they will talk to us because of their bond with us," Inui said suddenly as he read off of his notebook.

"Really?" Momo asked excitedly as Kaidoh hissed again.

"I hope so," Eiji commented with a small smile on his face. "I miss being able to hug them both…"

* * *

><p>"Why do you think they were staring at us earlier Ro?" Ryoma asked as he turned back to Rose to see her in another stance.<p>

"Maybe because we were staring at them earlier when Eiji-senpai yelled out?" Rose replied with a questionable tone.

"Maybe. Straighten your arms a bit more and loosen up. You are too tense for your own good," Ryoma commented.

"You can be such a jerk when it comes to tennis," Rose laughed out. '**You know that I have to be on the alert just in case of hunters Ryoma,**' she said to him through telepathy.

Ryoma nodded slightly to show that he understood before replying, "You did say a myth's pride is too great to lose didn't you?"

"Smart move Ryo," Rose said with a pout as she did remember the time that she had said that at Lake Virtue. "Clever move…"

"I'm just trying to cheer you up Ro. I know how you feel, and this mess isn't your fault. I know what I'm talking about Ro. We could try speaking to the others again and just tell them. It would be a lot less stressful for you. I'm sure that senpai-tachi will understand if we explain the entire situation," Ryoma said with a caring tone that he rarely showed anyone outside of his immediate family.

Rose sighed once more before turning to her partner and saying, "I'm sure that they will definitely forgive you Ryo. After all, you are their original teammate before I showed up."

"What about you?" he asked walking up to her.

"I will have to wait and see what they think about me. After all…I'm the one that lied to them the most," she replied before walking along with Ryoma toward the regulars. Staring down at the ground, she thought about every lie she had said…about every lie she had done…about everything she had to lie about to get to where she ended up today…

Little did Rose know that what happened next would forever bring back the trust between her, Ryoma, and the other regulars for good for the rest of their lives…


	14. Curses! Not Again!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Curses! Not Again!<strong>

Ryoma and Rose started walking toward the regulars with Rose in the lead. Luckily practice had ended just a few minutes ago, so no one was around in order to hear what they would be talking about.

The two never reached the group of regulars though…

"Ah!" Rose shrieked as she felt a sharp pain go through her head, arms, legs, and back. She clutched her head tightly in response and fell to her knees in pain. She kept shaking her head as if trying to get rid of the pain.

"Ro!" Ryoma yelled before running over and falling to his knees beside the girl. "Ro are you okay? Ro! Ro!"

When Rose didn't answer him, he turned her head slightly up as he bent to see her face. What he saw made his eyes soften toward the girl as he saw pain, regret, sorrow, and the one emotion that he just couldn't decipher at the time.

Ryoma couldn't help but flinch when he heard Rose start to cry from the pain and from the hidden emotion that he couldn't decipher.

All of a sudden, Ryoma turned his head as he heard a yell, "Rose!"

* * *

><p>"Rose!" Momo yelled as he ran over to the girl.<p>

The regulars started running over toward Rose. They were worried when she shrieked and that worry only worsened when the girl fell to her knees.

When they saw the tears fall from her eyes, they could only move their feet as they ran toward the girl that was their teammate and partner to their freshman regular.

Once they got to her, they didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to help when a human, or a dragon in her case, was like this. All they could think of was to take her inside the club room and let her get some rest before they tried anything else.

With a nod, Momo and Kaidoh both helped Ryoma carry the girl –wait no, dragon –wait, girl –no wait, dragon…oh never mind, everyone knows what I'm talking about right?

What surprised everyone was that this was the first time the two didn't argue over anything.

If anything, it might have been because they saw the worried expression on Ryoma's face as well as Rose's pained one and just went and decided to get the girl inside the room.

Ryoma was in there as soon as they went in and got his regulars' jersey along with some spare clothes that he and Rose brought along and laid them out on a clean spot on the floor. The clothes were a makeshift bed that the regulars gently laid Rose on top of.

"Rose…what happened to you?" Ryoma whispered as he stared at his partner.

The others in the room could sense the slight fear of loss in Ryoma's voice as he whispered that sentence.

Feeling a bit sad, Eiji looked at Rose before suddenly running out of the room startling the others.

"Where is he going?" Momo asked with a confused look on his face.

Not even a minute later, Eiji ran back into the room carrying a small tub of water and a few dry towels. Settling down next to Ryoma, he set the tub onto the ground before placing one towel in the water, wringing it, and placing it on Rose's forehead to try to cool her down.

Rose's pained face turned into a slightly peaceful expression as the cool water from the towel soaked her forehead.

Seeing that change, Ryoma sighed in relief before whispering, "Thank you Eiji-senpai," and smiling lightly at Rose with a well hidden caring look in his eyes.

The regulars could only widen their eyes in surprise and stayed silent as they watched him.

Noticing the stares, Ryoma turned to them slightly and asked, "What is it?"

"You smiled Ochibi!" Eiji yelled out. "You smiled!" He glomped Ryoma in joy with a large smile on his face.

"Eiji…sen...pai…can't…breathe…" Ryoma breathed out as his face started to turn blue from the lack of oxygen.

"Eiji!" Oishi yelled before prying his partner's arms off of the suffocating freshman prodigy.

"It is surprising how you could suddenly smile like this Echizen…" Inui muttered as he continued to write in his notebook.

Ryoma's eyebrows twitched slightly as he heard Inui and saw him acting so calmly…even writing notes about what was happening…

Ryoma stood up silently before walking over to Inui with his head toward the ground. Before Inui even knew it, Ryoma had snatched the notebook away with one hand before snapping two fingers with the other hand creating a small flame.

He was still working on how to draw his elements out from the air, but he was getting it step by step. Unlike Rose who could draw it from the air any time she pleased because she had been practicing mentally for centuries in the cave, he could bring out small flames so far.

With a glare toward his senpai, Ryoma threatened, "If you take any more notes about Rose's condition or our powers, I will burn this notebook and the other notebooks while I'm at it."

Inui gulped a bit in fear before nodding immediately agreeing with the conditions set.

Nodding slightly, Ryoma tossed the notebook back to Inui and ordered the data player to put it away before he seriously got angry.

Inui did as he was told before Ryoma decided to burn his notebooks…after all, it wouldn't do for his notebooks full of precious data to be stolen or harmed…especially burned…

The other regulars could only stare at Ryoma in surprise before some of the regulars also gulped in fear.

'_Who knew that Echizen/Ochibi would be so protective over the girl?'_ was the thought going through more than one regulars' head at the moment as they watched Ryoma sit down next to Rose once more.

"What will you do Echizen?" Tezuka asked switching his gaze between Ryoma and Rose every few minutes or so.

"I'll stay by her and make sure she gets well rested," Ryoma answered before gently grabbing one of Rose's hands.

"Isn't there a way you can help her Echizen?" Kawamura asked shyly.

Ryoma looked down at the ground for a moment before looking up and answering, "There is one thing that I could try. I haven't really practiced it well and Rose told me to use it for emergencies only though…"

"I would say that this counts as an emergency Echizen-kun," Fuji said slightly frowning. Even though the two freshmen had lied to them, he didn't like to see Rose in pain like she was earlier. He didn't want to see Ryoma worried so much either…the expression just did not fit with his image.

"I say try it Echizen," Momo said with a grin.

Kaidoh hissed before putting in his own word. "It's not like it will harm her or anything…"

Ryoma nodded slightly before putting his hands on top of Rose's chest where her heart would be. Slowly raising his hands above her, he muttered under his breath, "By the four elements that govern our world, heal the last dragon of this world and restore her bonds to the air and water."

Before everyone's eyes, they all saw a light blue glowing circle appear on Rose's chest.

Flaring his hands open, Ryoma watched as the circle started to spread over Rose's body and wrap around her figure before starting to glow a blinding white.

"What are you doing?" Momo freaked out thinking that the spell was hurting her as they all noticed her expression become slightly pained once more.

Ryoma gave a slight shushing sound as he noticed Rose's face become serene and well once more.

Slowly pulling his hands away from Rose's figure, he pulled the girl into a hug. He didn't know why but he felt that it was the right thing to do.

As the group waited for Rose to wake up, Oishi couldn't help but ask, "So what happened with Rose earlier? She didn't seem too well…"

Ryoma looked up at the mother hen of the team and sighed before answering, "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. For some reason, I didn't get any information from her about this sort of thing happening. I don't think she realized it either considering how she reacted to it…"

"That's too bad…we wanted to help…" Fuji said with a slight frown in Rose's direction. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl…

"Did you figure out the reason we lied to you in the first place?" Ryoma suddenly asked after a few minutes silence startling the regulars.

Glancing to each other, they each looked at Ryoma before shaking their heads 'no' as their answer.

"I see," Ryoma said before adding, "I'm not sure whether Rose will let me tell you or not." His eyes looked to the ground with a somewhat sad look that the regulars did not miss.

They couldn't help but feel sorry along with their freshman prodigy…after all, they were on the same team and almost like family with how they acted around each other.

"Ryo…Ryoma…" they all heard a voice call weakly.

"Rose!" Ryoma exclaimed with a surprised expression on his face as he adjusted the girl in his arms to get her into a more comfortable position.

Laying her head against Ryoma's chest, Rose said, "It's alright for them to know Ryoma. I know how much this is hurting you inside so go ahead and let your heart speak to them now. We've earned their trust again and that is all that matters…"

"Are you sure?" he asked worried about the girl.

Rose nodded before leaning against Ryoma more as she started to even her breathing to try and get rid of the pain she was feeling in her body.

Before anyone could start talking, they saw Rose clench one of her eyes shut as she started breathing a bit more heavily.

"Is something the matter?" Kawamura asked with a worried expression.

"It's just that…little bits and pieces of information feel like they are working into my head…" Rose said in a pained voice. "I'll be fine…just…give me a minute while I try to figure out what is going on…"

A few minutes passed in silence as Rose continued to try and sort the information coming into her head.

The regulars could only watch as Rose was in pain, and they couldn't do a thing at all in order to help. They just didn't know what they could do to help…

Another minute passed before they saw Rose's eyes slowly close and her body relax.

Before they could ask whether she was alright, the girl slowly opened her eyes once more before whispering one thing, "A dragon's final curse…"


	15. Just One Please

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>Just One Please<strong>

"A dragon's final curse…"

"What's that about?" Eiji asked tilting his head to the side in a curious manner.

"Yeah, what is it?" Momo repeated as he stared at the girl.

Ryoma looked around the area before noticing something and threatening, "Take out your notebook Inui-senpai, and I will burn it." He emphasized his threat by snapping his fingers to create a small flame on top of it.

Inui's eyes widened before he placed his hands back on his lap instead of reaching over to his bag like they were before.

"Mada mada dane Inui-senpai," Ryoma said smirking as he let the flame on his finger die out before allowing Rose to explain her dilemma.

Rose giggled at what had happened before taking a deep breath. "The dragon's final curse. I'm not sure what the exact name of the curse was exactly, but that is what my kind as well as other mythological beings call it. It was a spell that was cast upon me during the dragon war in the myth. Or more precisely…the massacre of my kind…"

"You saw that?" Fuji asked opening his eyes in shock. When he got a solemn nod from the girl, he couldn't help but look at her in sympathy.

"Maybe…maybe those hunters were wrong after all…" Kawamura suggested. "They weren't alive at the time of the war and have only relied on the stories passed on through generations."

"That's true," Oishi commented. "Their experience can't match to someone who has actually seen the war for their own eyes."

"That's right," Ryoma commented adjusting Rose in his grip again. He adjusted his sitting position to have one knee bent up with the other one straight as he adjusted Rose to lay against his knee while still being able to lay her head on his chest.

"So what did happen?" Inui asked curious as to the whole situation. He never liked leaving data out…especially if it was important.

Rose's eyes clouded over in pain before she took a deep breath and started talking. "The entire war between dragons and the hunters started when the hunters realized how good our scales and skin were for armor and weapons and other things like that. They started becoming greedy. They wanted to kill more and more of our kind in order for their own gain." Here she clenched her fists together and gritted her teeth in anger as she added, "Just because they wanted tougher armor and weapons for battle, they decided to destroy the very creatures they held sacred."

"What about the curse?" Eiji interrupted with a curious look on his face.

Rose smiled sadly before answering, "The elder dragons placed a spell on me. It was originally supposed to help me find my partner in later years when I was fully grown and able to have a partner. However…"

Ryoma wrapped an arm around Rose's shoulders and gently squeezed her in reassurance.

Rose smiled at him before saying, "When the hunters attacked us…the spell turned into a curse. That is the origin of the dragon's final curse."

"So what is it exactly?"

"Originally the dragon's final curse is a spell which somehow turns into a curse due to an event. In my case, the event was the massacre of my own kind…" Looking up, Rose could see the slight flinches from the rest of the regulars. "The spell originally made to help me find my partner…turned into a curse that causes pain that pretty much equals the pain that my kind felt when the humans betrayed them."

"What happened to the other dragons? What happened to them before the massacre?"

Rose smiled a bit before saying, "In order to avoid getting their human partners involved with the affair…they broke their pacts…all of them did."

"But wait a minute Ro," Ryoma interrupted. "Dragons can't access their powers without having a partner so-"

"That's correct," Rose answered knowing what he was about to say next. "That means that the hunters attacked us at our weakest…"

"That's horrible!" Eiji yelled out along with Oishi.

"No one should take advantage of anyone weaker," Kaidoh said with a hiss at the end. He was especially angry because taking advantage of someone who could not fight back was not right in the slightest.

"This is the reason why she never trusted other humans before this besides me…" Ryoma commented laying his head on top of Rose's as she closed her eyes from exhaustion from the curse. "She was really surprised that she could trust you all so easily…For that, I have to thank you. She seems a lot happier now that she has all of us to spend time with," he ended with a small smile at the entire group.

The entire group smiled back before Tezuka commented, "That still doesn't explain why you lied to all of us in the first place Echizen."

"We should explain that later," they all heard Rose reply in a pained voice. Looking at the girl, they saw her face scrunch up into a grimace as she kept her eyes closed. Taking a look at her hands, they all noticed her clenching and unclenching her fists repeatedly.

"How do we get rid of the curse?" Oishi asked getting another wet towel and dabbing away the sweat on Rose's face.

"Ryoma…will know…the information…soon…" Rose said before she fell asleep out of pure exhaustion.

Ryoma closed his eyes as the information from Rose's mind entered his. "Okay got it. She needs a rare flower – rare in her opinion considering how long she was in the cave. She saw an image of what it looks like. It's on a cactus."

"I have plenty of cactuses. Maybe I have it," Fuji commented leaning closer to the two.

"Alright. The flower is supposed to have a blue overtone with a green undertone. It has five petals and little silver swirls on each one. The most important part though is that the flower will only open up during the night and will close during the day."

"I have that one!" Fuji exclaimed. "It's in my bedroom. I found that one interesting to look at and got it after I got information about the cactus. I'll go get it right away," he said about to run out of the room.

"Wait!" Ryoma yelled getting him to stop and sit back down. "The flower will only work for a short time after it is picked off the plant. It's also only able to be used when the flower is open, so it has to be used at night for it to work for her."

"So what should we do then?"

"I think the only way this will work is if I bring Rose to your house tonight. That way she will be able to get the flower quickly. Is that alright with you Fuji-senpai?"

Looking at Ryoma for only a quick moment, Fuji smiled as he closed his eyes and said, "Anything to help the girl. She is important to you and the rest of us."

"Thank you Fuji-senpai," Ryoma said with a small bow of his head.

"When will she wake up?" Kawamura asked standing up from the ground he was sitting up and stretching a bit.

"I'm not sure exactly," Ryoma said. "Let me see if I can get any more information," he said after a few minutes before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

The regulars could only watch in confusion as Ryoma stayed silent until the freshman prodigy opened his eyes again. "Well?"

"She won't wake up again until she gets that flower. Just waking up earlier took a lot of energy from her. I have a feeling that this won't be the last time this will happen either."

"I agree," Tezuka said crossing his arms over his chest. "From what I understand, the dragons were sacred until they were betrayed according to her story. Having centuries of trust being broken must have put the dragons in a lot of pain. More than we probably realize…"

"Do you think there is any way we can eliminate the curse for good? I don't like seeing her in pain like that," Oishi commented looking back at the girl.

"I think there might be something. She should know more about it than I do considering it was a curse by her own species."

"I'm sure that the cure is not that bad Echizen-kun," Fuji commented with a small smile.

"If it wasn't that bad, why wouldn't she let me get the information from her?" Ryoma snapped at the group with a sneer.

The regulars were all startled by the outburst and leaned back a bit away from Ryoma.

"Echizen…"

"Yes buchou?" Ryoma asked glancing up.

"There must be a reason for that," Tezuka reasoned. "She cares for you deeply. We can all see that. There must be a reason that she isn't allowing you to get any information about it…"

Ryoma looked toward the ground before nodding slightly with a small sigh. "It's getting late. I'm going to call my baka oyaji and tell him that we'll be staying at your house Fuji-senpai." He adjusted Rose in his arms again to allow him to fish his cell phone out of his pocket.

After a quick few minutes, Ryoma hung up the phone and said, "Oyaji said it was fine to go to your house for the night Fuji-senpai."

"I'll call home then and tell my family that we are having guests over," Fuji said getting his phone out of his pocket.

Before he could even dial a number, the other regulars all asked, "Can we come over too?"

Fuji opened his eyes slightly in surprise before closing them with a smile on his face. "I'll see if my family can handle nine more people as guests."

After another quick call, Fuji hung up his phone and put it in his pocket before saying to the others, "My mom said it was fine. Just call your parents so no one thinks they kidnapped you."

Seven calls later found the other regulars in the team able to go to Fuji's house for the night and watch over Rose.

* * *

><p>After practice, the group of ten had immediately started walking over to Fuji's house in order to get the flower from the plant he owned.<p>

"I'm home!" Fuji yelled as he opened the door to his home. Seeing someone else in the room, he yelled, "Ah! Yuuta! You're home!"

"Of course Aniki! I do live here you know?" Yuuta said with a small scowl on his face as he walked to the door to greet his brother and their guests. Yuuta had darker hair than his brother and there was a scar on his eye. His hair was more unruly when compared to Syuusuke's' as well…

Taking a look at all the guests, Yuuta said, "The guest rooms are already prepared Aniki. We only had four guest rooms so two people have to share a room and then the last has to share a room with you Aniki. You can decide who is rooming with whom."

Before anyone could even say anything else, Ryoma automatically replied, "I'm sharing a room with Ro."

The regulars blinked their eyes at what Ryoma had said with practically no hesitation in his voice. There wasn't even a second between the time Yuuta finished his sentence and the time that Ryoma commented.

"Okay then," Yuuta said after blinking at the freshman as well. He knew that Ryoma wasn't all that…outgoing or generous or even social to others. He ignored it however when he saw who this 'Ro' was. It was the girl on his back now that he finally noticed. "You guys can choose your rooms. Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes," he said before turning around to go to the living room and watch some TV before dinner got started.

The team glanced at each other before nodding slightly and going off to choose their rooms. They had to make sure that Kaidoh and Momo did NOT get paired up with one another, or there would be destruction in the house.

The room assignments ended up being:

Ryoma with Rose

Momo with Kawamura

Kaidoh with Inui

Oishi with Kikumaru (A/N: Okay who didn't see that coming lol?)

And Tezuka roomed with Fuji considering there were only four guest rooms available.

"Let's go get the flower for Rose," Eiji whispered over to the group as they went upstairs to the guest rooms.

Ryoma nodded before going into the guest room he had chosen and laid Rose down on the bed over the covers. "Would you mind bringing the flower here now Fuji-senpai? Your family might panic if Rose sleeps throughout the entire night."

Fuji nodded before leaving the room only to come back carrying a small cactus the size of his hand with a little open blue flower on it. "What do we do with it?"

"We'll just need a glass of water. Can you get one?"

"I'll get it," Kawamura said leaving the room to go to the kitchen. Coming back with a glass of water in his hand, he handed it to Ryoma before Fuji handed the freshman the cactus.

Plucking off the flower carefully so another would grow in its place, Ryoma gently placed the flower on top of the water and watched as it floated.

"Is that it?" Momo asked staring at the glass.

"Just wait a minute," Ryoma said as he placed the glass on the ground and leaned back to allow the others to see what he was waiting for.

Pretty soon, the others clearly noticed what he was waiting for. The green undertone of the flower started to turn the water green before the flower submerged just a bit in order for the blue to change the water. After another minute, the water was green with blue swirls and the flower was dissolved completely in the water.

Satisfied with the water, Ryoma straightened Rose up into a sitting position before laying her head on his shoulder. Tilting her head back, Ryoma took the glass to her mouth and got her to drink the water careful not to choke her.

Once he got her to finish the cup, Ryoma placed it on a nearby table and just leaned back against the headboard as he waited along with the others for Rose to wake up.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the regulars got what they were waiting for.<p>

Little by little, Rose's eyes fluttered open to reveal the bright golden orbs underneath.

She was finally awake…

Looking around the room, Rose noticed that she wasn't at the school or at Ryoma's house. She noticed that the room was filled with the smell of cacti and concluded with the fact that she was at Fuji's house. She remembered that fact at least from what Ryoma had remembered about the tensai.

Smiling at the ones in the room, she whispers, "Thank you everyone and sorry for being a bother…"

"It's no problem Rose! We are just glad that you are okay!" Eiji yelled before hugging both Ryoma and Rose tightly in a bear hug.

"Is it alright for you to tell us the reason you lied to us then?" Tezuka commented crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced around the room to see his teammates with the same question in their eyes.

"Don't you dare take any notes Inui-senpai," Ryoma threatened with a narrowed glare toward the data master.

Inui stopped moving toward his bag before straightening up again. He did NOT want his notebooks full of precious data to burn by a revengeful Ryoma…

Rose sighed before lying back down on the bed. The regulars thought that she wouldn't answer their request until she started speaking. "The reason that we lied – that I lied to you all – it's for your own protection…"

"Our protection?" Kaidoh hissed out with narrowed eyes. "What does lying to us have to deal with our protection? And protection from what?"

"You remember those dragon hunters don't you?" Rose asked before getting a nod from each regular. "Those hunters will do absolutely anything to kill me…which includes capturing anyone that knows of my existence as a dragon. If those hunters knew that you had anything to do with a dragon like me, they would target you to get to both me and Ryoma without a second thought. I tried to keep the secret from all of you so that you, your friends, and your family would not be targeted…"

"But that still doesn't explain why you still had to lie in the first place," Momo commented crossing his arms. "What's the worst they can possibly do huh?"

Rose's eyes clouded over a bit before she sighed and said, "In the past…when a person knew of a dragon's existence and refused to tell about it…the hunters would torture him, his family, his friends, and practically anyone and everyone that person could find most precious in his heart."

"But that doesn't have to deal with-"

"It has everyone to do with you!" Rose snapped back before he could even finish his sentence. She sat straight up with anger in her eyes and said, "Those hunters will do anything they can to find a weakness of mine…and they won't regret using friends and family to do it. They will do anything and everything to get information on how to kill me and get what they want. I don't want any of that torture to happen to you!"

The regulars were shocked at her snapping and could only remain silent as she calmed down with a few deep breaths before lying back down on the bed.

"I'm sorry for yelling but…I just don't want anything bad to happen to the lot of you," she said turning her head to look away from the group. "I just wanted you to remain safe, so I asked Ryoma to keep it a secret from you all…"

The regulars glanced toward each other before Eiji smiled and said, "We just thought that you didn't trust us at all."

Rose shook her head slightly before turning back to them with a small smile as she replied, "If I didn't trust you enough, then why did I even go near you at Lake Virtue?"

The rest of the group chuckled before one similar thought came to everyone's mind…except for Rose considering…

"How do you get rid of the dragon's final curse permanently?" Fuji asked with the question that plagued everyone's minds.

Everyone saw how Rose's eyes widened in surprise before the surprise disappeared from her eyes and was replaced with a smile on her face. "It's no big deal. We have the flower, so I should be fine whenever it happens again."

The regulars were not pleased as they could tell that the smile on her face was fake and that she was hiding something…

Rose flinched slightly when she saw that even Ryoma was starting to glare at her to tell him the truth. '_Dang it. When did those guys get good at picking up my fakers?'_

"I'm telling you that it is fine everyone," Rose said once again hoping to get the point across that she did NOT want to talk about it.

"And we are telling you that it isn't," Ryoma said throwing an arm around Rose's waist to keep a grip on her. "Tell us what you need to do to eliminate that curse permanently Rose," he said staring her straight in the eye.

Everyone in the room could tell that she was thinking about her decisions as her eyes were glancing from side to side. They heard her sigh before she answered, "For a temporary lift, that flower is needed."

"We want to know how to get rid of it permanently," Ryoma said knowing that she was trying to avoid the subject.

Rose lowered her head before sighing in defeat. She couldn't keep it away from her partner…he would keep asking until he got the information anyway…might as well make it easier for her. Taking a deep breath and lifting her head up, she answered, "The only way to get rid of the curse permanently is to…"

The others in the room could only lean in closer in order to hear her response.

"The only way to get rid of the curse permanently is…to…" Here she changed her voice to a whisper hoping no one would hear. "Exchange blood between myth and reality…"

"What?" several yelled.

"Aw man you did hear me!" Rose yelled with wide eyes.

"What are we going to do?" Eiji asked staring between each and every regular.

"Only one thing to do then," Fuji said standing up and going out of the room to get something.

A few minutes later, he came back with something in his hands behind his back.

"What is that Fuji-senpai?" Rose questioned with a narrowed stare at him.

Fuji could only give off a smile before revealing what he had.

"A needle!" Rose yelled jumping out of Ryoma's embrace and rushing out of the room.

"Wait Rose! We have to in order to help you!" Ryoma yelled running after the girl with the others following.

"Heck no! I'm not completing the deal!" Rose yelled back putting a drawl on the word 'heck' just to emphasize her point before running out the door into the backyard.

"Is something going on?" Fuji's mother asked while poking her head out of the kitchen.

"Nothing okaa-san," Fuji replied with a smile on his face as the others snuck into the backyard along with the needle.

* * *

><p>"Where did she go?" Momo questioned looking around the backyard for the girl.<p>

"How should I know?" Ryoma questioned back searching through a nearby bush.

"Can't you track her down with something?"

"No! She hasn't taught me anything dealing with tracking so far!" Ryoma yelled back as he continued searching.

"Where could she be hiding?" Fuji asked with his chin in his hand as he looked around the backyard.

"Her true form is that of a dragon, so where would she possibly be hiding," Inui said making some calculations in his head. "There is a 12 percent chance of her in the bushes, 27 percent chance of her being on the roof, 51 percent chance of her being in any nearby trees, and a 10 percent chance of her actually running away from the area."

"Let's search the trees then everyone," Kawamura said before looking up the trees in Fuji's backyard.

"We've finished checking but she still isn't here," Eiji whined after a few minutes of searching.

"Where could she-"

"Achoo!"

"Where did that come from?" Momo asked turning toward the source of the voice. "Ah! Rose really was on the roof!" he exclaimed seeing the girl trying to hide on top of the roof.

"Darn it!" they heard her mutter under her breath.

"Come down here Rose!" Ryoma yelled up at her. "We are just trying to help you with the curse!"

"But you'll be in trouble if you do!" Rose yelled leaning over the roof to look at them only to wish she hadn't as someone had the smarts to grab some rope while they were searching for her.

"Got her," Kaidoh hissed after throwing the rope up at the girl and catching her around the upper arms.

"Careful when you pull her do-"

"Whoa!" Rose yelled as she suddenly stumbled off the roof.

"Rose!" several of them yelled as they watched her fall off.

"Protection of the wind!" they heard her yell before a gust of wind blew and caught her before turning her onto her feet as she touched the ground.

"Are you willing to listen no-"

"Heck no! Cut the ropes!" she ordered the wind and watched as a razor blade appeared and cut it. "Good luck trying to get me to exchange blood!" she yelled before dashing off in another direction only to be cut off by Eiji.

"Sorry Rose-chan, but we are just trying to help you," Eiji said before pouncing on the girl.

Rose widened her eyes slightly before stopping on her heel and side-stepping the pounce while also giving Eiji a light jab in the stomach to cause some pain for just enough time for her to get away.

She never noticed as someone was behind her when she side-stepped only to notice when the person grabbed her upper arms. Looking up, she scowled at the person before growling, "Let me go Tezuka-buchou."

"Not until we get rid of the curse," he answered calmly while keeping her in place.

"Fat chance!" Rose said lifting her lower body up into the air before stomping right on Tezuka's feet causing him to widen his eyes before letting go of the girl immediately to tend to his feet. "She stomps harshly…" was all he could comment as he checked his feet.

"I am not gonna try that," Momo commented seeing how much pain his captain seemed to be in. "No choice then," he said rushing up behind the girl and pulling her into a headlock.

"Again with this," Rose commented as she reached her arms up to try and pry his arms away from her neck. "I told you, I am not going to exchange blood no matter what you try to do!" she yelled before clamping her teeth down into Momo's arm.

"Ouch!" Momo yelped letting go of the girl to see red marks already on his arm along with a few deep ones that looked near ready to bleed. "She bites like a tiger for crying out loud!"

"How would you know that?" Oishi yelled out worried about the comparison even though it was just a comparison.

"Would you stop Rose?" Ryoma yelled. "Please!"

Rose was about to dash in another direction before she stopped on the stop thanks to that one word. Turning to him with a surprised look on her face, she couldn't help but say, "What?"

"Please just stop! We are trying to help you Rose!" Ryoma yelled trying to reason with her.

Rose let her arms down by her side before looking toward the ground. "I don't…I don't want to put you in any more danger…"

"What do you mean?" Ryoma said tilting his head a bit to the side with a miniscule nod of his head that only one noticed.

"Once we exchange blood…the pain that I feel will also drain away into you. Whenever I get hurt, you will get a fraction of the pain."

"Is that so?" Ryoma questioned staring at the girl. "Then I wouldn't mind it as long as you never show me that face again."

"Face?"

"The face you had on when you were first affected by the curse," he explained.

"What fa-OUCH!" she yelped when she felt something dig into her skin.

"Hold still," she heard someone say as he gripped her arm.

"What the heck!" she yelled turning her head over her shoulder to see that Fuji had the needle in one hand and held her arm steady with the other. Scowling, she turned back to Ryoma and yelled, "You are going to regret this! You don't know how much pain you can handle as a mortal human!"

"I don't care as long as you don't suffer alone! No one should suffer alone," he yelled trying to reason with her again. "You've already suffered alone enough! Having to watch that event happen in front of your eyes and then live alone for millennia waiting for the person you could trust! You shouldn't suffer alone any longer than you need to!"

Rose blinked startled at the reasoning before looking down at the ground. "I just don't…I just don't want you to get hurt…"

"And I don't want you to suffer alone," Ryoma said once more before walking over to the girl. "So how do we do this?"

"Just drink it if you truly wish for this to happen," she said with a sigh of defeat. There was no turning back now…she knew Ryoma's attitude and how he would keep trying to make sure that she would not suffer from the curse again. His tone alone had convinced her of that much.

He even said the word 'please' which not many other people noticed because they were either busy tending to the wounded or too busy being treated to care. The ones that weren't doing either were too focused on getting Rose's blood so they never heard him say it either. They just knew that she stopped suddenly because of something he said.

"Alright," Ryoma said taking the syringe full of blood and emptying it into his mouth to the surprise of everyone watching.

"You just did that with no hesitation?" Rose questioned with a shocked expression.

"How many times do I need to repeat myself?" he questioned before flicking her on the forehead. "I'm not letting you suffer alone. Now do what you need to do and finish the pact."

Rose sighed once more before walking up to Ryoma and lifting his hand to her face. She raised his palm to her mouth before nicking it with one of her fangs drawing blood. She only needed a bit of blood – thankfully – so after a minute of letting the blood flow slowly, there was enough blood on his palm for her to drink to fill the pact.

"How do we know whether it is gone or not though?" Eiji asked as soon as she was done drinking the blood.

"There is only one way to find out. The curse is supposed to show up as a black tattoo on my back after the first betrayal by curse. If it is fully receded, then that means the curse is forever gone," she commented before turning her back to the rest of the group. "Someone check for me," she said moving her hair to the side and pulling the back of her shirt up, not enough for the front of it to rise, but enough for her back to be seen without a hassle.

"It's starting to disappear!" Eiji yelled out with a large smile on his face.

The others around them smiled at Rose, who let her shirt back down, and watched as she turned to them with a sheepish smile.

"Thank you for everything everyone. And thank you for trusting me again," she said.

"We never distrusted you! We thought you didn't trust us!" Eiji replied hugging the girl again.

"Let's trust each other forever then," she said with a large smile toward the group which they all returned with their own smiles.


	16. A Little Help

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Special news~ Considering it is December, I've decided to post one chapter per day of the month. That's why I haven't published must. I've been prewriting chapters just for this month heehee. This is the rewrite of Dragon's Master as you can tell. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say~.**

* * *

><p><strong>A Little Help<strong>

"Ah~," Rose sighed as she stretched her arms above her head. "Those hunters haven't shown up recently," she whispered to her team as they continued walking toward the courts they were about to play on.

"They haven't which is a good thing as well as a bad thing isn't it?" Kawamura asked taking a look at the girl. She wasn't wearing her uniform as she wasn't playing this time. This time Ryoma would be the substitute for this tournament considering he still had just a few injuries that would be healed in a few hours. Luckily, if he needed to play, they would be completely healed by then.

"Ah~, I've been getting bored lately without those hunters around," Rose commented with a smirk.

Ever since the incident with the dragon's final curse, the team had gotten Rose to be more playful. She was always cautious whenever she was around them as if she were waiting for something bad to happen. She never relaxed from what they saw. The group couldn't help but try to make the girl loosen up and have fun.

The group laughed at Rose's comment considering she was just bored that she wasn't training. Her injuries stopped her from playing tennis like she wished which was also the reason why Ryoma was playing as the substitute instead of being in doubles like last time.

"Who are we facing again?" she asked running ahead of the group and turning around to face them as she continued to walk.

"We are going against Hyotei," Tezuka answered looking around the courts for their specific court number.

"Hmm. You mean that rich kids school that Ryoma was talking about earlier?" Rose asked as she started to hop backwards as the others started to catch up with her.

"Yeah, those kids," Momo said with a large grin as the team walked into their courts to see the Hyotei team already there with a large crowd already cheering for them.

Rose hummed before glancing over at the captain of the team who was baiting the crowd on. "I knew money could buy schools, but I didn't know it could buy affection," she commented with a mischievous smile on her face.

The team couldn't help but either laugh or chuckle at what she had just said. She was the first girl to ever NOT be taken by Atobe's looks and actually diss them at the same time!

"He's a monkey king," Ryoma commented with a smirk as his team got ready near his team's benches.

"I'll be waiting then," Rose said already walking onto the bleachers near them in order to watch the matches closely. Just because she couldn't play didn't mean that she wouldn't watch and gather more information for next time for improvement. Hey, maybe it would help her improve too, you never know after all.

* * *

><p>"My goodness can that boy get any cockier?" Rose commented as she lay on her back on the bleacher wall and looked to the side to see Tezuka's match versus Atobe. "Ore-sama this, ore-sama that…no wonder Ryoma calls you Monkey King!" she yelled the last part out which caused several of her team members to snicker aloud while they all saw a tick mark appear on Atobe's forehead.<p>

"Don't call Ore-sama by that name!" Atobe yelled back as he hit another one of his special shots named 'Rondo Towards Destruction' where he literally shot at the opponent's racket handle to make them let go before smashing it on the court.

Rose could only giggle before falling off the bleachers right in front of her team and landing on top of Ryoma's lap. "Woops," she giggled out before getting up with Ryoma's help. She continued to giggle as the rest of the crowd around them gaped and/or widened their eyes.

No one besides the Seigaku School knew that the two were 'dating' so when they saw Seigaku's cocky and arrogant freshman acting friendly with a girl, they were shocked.

Rose could only narrow her eyes as yet another 'Rondo Towards Destruction' was successful. "Tezuka-buchou," she whispered under her breath to the notice of both Oishi and Fuji.

* * *

><p>"Do you think she knows?" Fuji asked the vice-captain as he kept one eye on the match and one eye on her.<p>

"She might. After all she knows when an injury occurs pretty well," Oishi commented back doing the same.

"Let's see how this match goes," Fuji commented turning his attention back to the match. "Let's hope that Tezuka doesn't push himself this time around…"

Oishi nodded before turning back to see another point won by Atobe.

* * *

><p>"Aw~. That's too bad," Rose sighed as she watched Tezuka leave the courts. He had lost to Atobe, but it was one of the greatest matches she had seen so far. She clapped her hands along with the crowd before watching as Ryoma got himself ready for his own match. "Good luck Ryo," she said with a smile and giving a peck to his cheek.<p>

The crowd once again gaped at the interaction between the two before finally realizing that the two were 'dating' after all.

Rose could only mentally chuckle to Ryoma about how funny the crowd looked and how well they built up the lie to the outside world.

Ryoma nodded mentally before going onto the courts.

"Tezuka-buchou," Rose commented walking over to the captain. "Are you alright?" she asked sitting down next to him on the bench.

"It'll be fine," Tezuka said waving off her worry. He would need to see a doctor again to see how bad the damage was this time around.

Rose frowned at him slightly before scooting closer and grabbing his left arm and placing it on her lap.

Tezuka glanced over in the corner of his eyes along with the rest of the team, even Ryoma who was walking onto the courts, and watched as she mouthed something under her breath.

Ryoma closed his eyes as he continued to walk onto the court and repeated the words for his team to hear, "For those who give their life for their team…may their will live forever on."

The crowd turned to each other and questioned why Ryoma would say that now of all times. They never connected that statement over to Rose or to the match that had happened now.

Only the Hyotei team had realized because their captain had been the one playing against Tezuka in the match just now. The team still had to wonder what Ryoma was talking about and for what reason though…

"What are you doing?" Oishi whispered to not drag any more attention to them as Ryoma started playing his match against Hiyoshi.

"I'm helping," Rose answered closing her eyes and massaging Tezuka's arm lightly as she continued to mouth word after word so silent that no one could hear her but herself.

Little by little, the pain in Tezuka's arm from the match started to go away but it was going very slowly as to not shock his body.

"It's not hurting as much," Tezuka commented letting his team know exactly what Rose was doing.

"When did this happen?" Rose questioned moving one arm further up his until she reached his elbow and gently rubbed the area where a blue glow shined underneath her fingertips.

Tezuka, Fuji, and Oishi realized what the girl was talking about and couldn't help but look at the ground with the others being confused as to what was going on.

"Freshman year if you must know," Tezuka said careful not to give away any of the details in his response so that the rest of the team would not be worried.

"I see," Rose said opening her eyes slightly before gently pressing down on the patch of skin her fingers were currently over.

The team could see a blue glow underneath her fingertips that seemed to seep into Tezuka's own skin.

"I might not be able to do much right now but," Rose started applying more pressure without hurting Tezuka, "I'm going to try my best and make sure you get better Tezuka-buchou."

Oishi and Fuji couldn't help but smile at the female on their team. Even Tezuka couldn't help but be a little grateful for what she was doing. He didn't even ask or bother telling her any details, but she just went on her own and starting helping him without any questions besides for when it happened. He ruffled her hair with his free hand to show how grateful he was to her and saw the smile light up her face as she continued working.

The rest of the team glanced at each other before shrugging their shoulders and turning their attention back to the current match, much to the relief of Oishi, Fuji, and Tezuka who wanted to keep his secret as long as possible from them.

Rose pulled her hands away and revealed a few marks on Tezuka's arm. There were a few dark blue jagged lines on his arm that she took note of.

"What are those?" Oishi asked stepping a bit closer.

Rose leaned closer to Fuji, Oishi, and Tezuka before whispering in their ears, "Those are the parts of his arm that the doctor should look at." She took out a piece of paper and then drew a rough sketch of his arm along with the blue lines before the lines disappeared completely as if they weren't there in the first place. "Here," she said handing the paper over to Tezuka. "Make sure you get those areas checked on your arm."

Tezuka nodded in appreciation before taking the paper and pulling his arm back to his side and turning his attention to Ryoma's match.

"Echizen's been using a lot of 'Drive B' hasn't he?" Momo questioned watching as he did one after another after another.

"He's got a lot of pent up energy from not being able to play and from watching Tezuka-buchou's match. I can definitely say that I would have a lot of pent up energy to spare as well if I was playing," she commented leaning back against the bench.

* * *

><p>"Seigaku is the winner!" the referee called at the end of the match.<p>

Rose clapped as she watched the two teams shake hands with one another and congratulate each other.

"Congratulations everyone!" she yelled cupping her hands over her mouth to amplify her voice. "You all did great!"

The entire crowd kept on cheering.

Rose straightened back up with a smile on her face before she noticed it. Widening her eyes, she turned her attention to Ryoma and quickly yelled, "Ryoma! Watch out!"

The two teams didn't have a chance to move before they saw a swarm of knives heading their way.

"Ryoma!"


	17. Them Again?

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have a few questions for all the readers of this story. Am I doing a good job with the rewrite? It's already been around 5 or so chapters and yet no new reviews. Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a good job? How am I doing with the rewrite. With no one reviewing, it's hard for me to know whether I'm making the story better or making it worse. If I don't get that many reviews with the next few chapters, I'll move onto the other stories I am writing and just let this one go until I get more reviews telling me whether I'm doing good or bad because I'm not publishing something that is bad.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Them Again?<strong>

"Ryoma!" Rose yelled as the swarm of knives made their way closer to the courts aiming for the two teams.

The crowd could only scream in fright as the knives made their way closer to the tennis teams. They all closed their eyes, except for Rose of course, not wanting to see what would happen to the teams.

Pretty soon, everyone heard a 'clang' sound through the courts from the impact of metal against metal.

Opening their eyes, they all gaped as they saw Ryoma in the air with a silver-bladed scythe with a golden hilt and a dark grey swirl pattern on it along with a chain on the end of the hilt.

All of a sudden, there was a rush of wind all going toward the freshman.

Ryoma swung the scythe around him and successfully stopped something from getting near him before he landed gently on the ground. As soon as his foot touched the ground, a sword made its way into his vision which he blocked with one end of the scythe before raising the other behind him to block a spear at his legs.

"Ryoma!" he heard before he noticed in the corner of his eye that Rose had jumped into the courts with her fans already out and thrown toward the other fighters in the area. He noticed that instead of purple they were a dark grey with gold trimming and silver blades sticking out.

The other fighters had no choice but to get away from Ryoma before they got slashed into by the two fans.

Seigaku immediately realized what was going on when Rose jumped into the fight and quickly got the Hyotei team out of the courts. They were pestered with questions the entire way, but they managed to get everyone off the courts before turning around to stare at the battle. "Good luck you two," the team whispered under their breath as Rose landed right next to Ryoma before raising her arms up to catch her two fans.

Every single one of the fans that weren't tennis players ran for the hills, in this case outside of the tennis facilities and only the tennis players from a few schools, namely Rikkaidai, Yamabuki, Josei Shounen, Fudoumine, St. Rudolph, and Rokkaku were left to watch what was going on. Hyotei was still with the Seigaku regulars as they were confused on how calm the Seigaku team was acting even with someone pretty much threatening their freshman player.

"What is going on here Tezuka?" Atobe yelled angry at what he was seeing. "How is your team acting so calm when someone is threatening to KILL your freshman player?"

"Players," Tezuka answered. "You mean players…"

"Huh?" Gakuto asked this time. "What do you mean by players? You mean that girl?"

Fuji nodded before explaining, "Meet the first female regular on a male's team thanks to the inter-gender rule created by the tennis association. Rose Ryu is her name."

"Awesome!" someone yelled getting everyone's attention to turn and see that Jirou was actually awake and watching the fight.

Turning their attention back to the courts, everyone nearby heard someone scoff, "You people again?"

* * *

><p>"You people again?" Rose scoffed rolling her eyes at the five fighters around them.<p>

The five smirked before Tiaw, "You ready to die kids?"

Meiling sighed at her partner's behavior before adding, "You are lucky that we waited until the end of your match instead of just attacking during the match. Otherwise you would be dead faster than you could say tennis."

"I'm afraid that we won't be the ones defeated today," Ryoma said with a glare at the fighters as he readied his scythe in his hands once more.

"Show us what you are made of," Rose said with a glare as she crouched a bit and had her fans already ready to throw.

"You cocky brats! Once we kill you the dragon will be ours!" the five yelled at Ryoma specifically.

"Oh please, you couldn't even fight your way out of a paper bag," Rose said mocking them while rolling her eyes once more. She got what she wanted when she saw the five bristle in anger before she went ahead and charged at them. "Come on Ryoma! Let's show 'em what's going to fly!"

"Right on it!" Ryoma yelled swinging the scythe behind him before slamming it in front of him to slam into the ground creating a large crater in the ground disrupting the hunters' footwork.

"What was that?" Aloc yelled falling onto the ground from the quake.

"You seriously think we wouldn't train after your first attack?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow. She shook her head mockingly as she said, "How sad…I didn't think you five were that stupid."

"Why you!" Tiaw yelled before reaching to grab eight darts and throwing them at Rose who brought up her fans to block them.

"I'll never let you hurt Ryoma as long as I live," Rose said lowering her fans only to show her glaring eyes underneath.

"Let's see how long we can fight them before transforming," Ryoma commented with a bored expression on his face as he continued to twirl his scythe in his hand.

"You are so on Ryo!" Rose said happily taking up the wager and charged at the hunters with her arms outstretched. Throwing one hand in front of her, she sent one of the fans flying in a large arch from the top before throwing her other hand and throwing it at them in an arch from below.

* * *

><p>"Like that will work!" Tiaw yelled before the hunters jumped away from the two arches.<p>

They turned back to Rose who had a smirk on her face before they realized something. They looked behind the girl and noticed that Ryoma was pivoting on his foot and bending over so that his scythe repeatedly hit the ground causing several small boulders to jump up from the ground.

"Jump!" they heard Ryoma yell before they saw Rose jump into the air as Ryoma swung the scythe in a wide arc in front of him successfully hitting the boulders and slamming them toward the hunters.

"How is he able to do that?" Aloc yelled before pulling up his spear to jab at the boulders and break them apart before the boulders could hit his team.

"You didn't think we did nothing while you were gone did you?" they heard someone ask from above them.

Shao looked up to see Rose diving toward them with her arms in an 'x' in front of her chest with her two fans closed. "What are you thinking?" he muttered to himself as he narrowed his eyes at the girl.

"Let's dance then," he heard her say as she narrowed her own eyes and suddenly slowed down in the air long enough to throw her arms out and release the fans in wide arcs around them.

"Something is up," Meiling commented noticing how the fans arched around them.

"Look out!" Tiaw yelled before ducking to the ground.

The hunters didn't know what she was talking about until they felt it. A blade of air cut into their arms and backs swiftly before disappearing.

"What was that?" they yelled turning around to see the remaining air particles that were used in the attack. Widening their eyes, they turned back to the girl and muttered under their breaths, "Water and air…that is her domain."

"That's correct," they heard her say before the fans returned to her. "And fire and earth are my partners' elements to wield," she said with a smirk as she stared behind their group of hunters.

Turning around, they noticed what she meant as Ryoma spun his scythe above his head with a small fire at the tip. As soon as Ryoma swung the blade down, a line of fire shot off from it toward them.

"Run!" Aloc yelled before jumping away from the line of fire along with the other hunters.

* * *

><p>"Che, they are getting smarter," Ryoma said as he stopped swinging his blade and put the butt of it on the ground as Rose jumped over to him.<p>

"They are aren't they?" she questioned back with a narrowed glare.

"Looks like we have to transform again," Ryoma sighed as he raised his scythe above his head. "One question though. Do we need that chant from before?" he asked glancing over at Rose from the corner of his eyes.

"Fortunately," Rose started before their bodies were covered in a bright light, "not anymore."

The two lights shattered to reveal the two in their battle forms.

This time, Ryoma wore a tight black sleeved shirt with the sleeves going all the way to his elbows. He wore a pair of long black pants that were tight and snug at the same time to allow comfortable movement. Over the clothing were a few pieces of armor. On top of his shoulders were large silver scales and those same scales were over his lower and upper arms. On his hands was a pair of golden gloves. He wore a silver sash around his waist that trailed just a bit behind him, and on his feet was a pair of dark grey slip-on fighting shoes. There was a golden line on one side of the pants that continued up the shirt and even went down the sleeve to the elbow where this one piece of armor seemed to sprout off as it looked like a flower.

* * *

><p>"What in the world?" everyone in the courts besides the hunters and Seigaku yelled as they stared at the creature next to Ryoma.<p>

It was a serpent with dark grey scales covering its entire body. Golden claws scratched at the ground it stood on as the lighter grey bat-like wings kept spreading out and folding in over the courts. The serpent was even longer now that Seigaku took a close look. The body was in a zigzag pattern around the court as last time, but instead of being near the ground, parts of the dragon's body were actually hunched up in the air just to fit in the courts. The legs seemed skinnier but stronger as they stood their ground under the base of her neck and tail. Its mane was a gold color as well as the hair on its tail. The dragon's golden eyes glared at the hunters as it bared its white polished teeth.

"That little girl was a dragon?" everyone yelled as they gaped at the large creature.

Seigaku had to cover their ears from the outburst while the hunters were surprised.

* * *

><p>"Didn't they already know she was a dragon?" Meiling quietly asked Shao as they continued to watch the other tennis players go crazy.<p>

"I guess that dragon didn't bother telling anyone until something happened," Aloc commented hearing her question. "I'm not surprised. They lie all the time just to keep their scaly selves alive."

"Well…I don't really know about-Watch out!" Tiaw yelled dragging the other four hunters to the ground barely dodging the tail that was swung their way.

"Come on now, don't get distracted," they heard the dragon mock before she swung her tail up into the air and slammed it down.

It was only thanks to Betaes's and Tiaw's quick feet that got them out of the way.

"Let's move!" Aloc shouted grabbing his spear. They all had their weapons out once more.

"Same old weapons…same old moves…" they heard the dragon comment with a smirk in their direction.

"She is going to pay for that," Tiaw said readying her darts before charging at the dragon along with Betaes. Aloc went with Shao while Meiling decided to stay back as she was also a ranged user.

"Let's move then," Meiling said before shooting off several bolts at the dragon which she blocked with one wing.

* * *

><p>"You got the spearman and sword user apparently," Rose called out to her partner. "And I got the darts and the dagger as well as the crossbow!"<p>

"You get three again?" Ryoma commented as he spun his scythe in the air before bringing it down and clashing with the two weapons coming at him forcing them to hit the ground. "No fair," he said with a smirk as he brought the scythe up quickly and swung at the two in front of him.

"Ha!" Rose yelled as she continued to slither around the courts before jumping onto the gates and clamping on with her claws. "I swear for ranged users, they have bad aim!" she yelled trying to get a rise out of them.

It seemed to work as she noticed them fire or throw their weapons a bit faster than before.

Rose giggled a bit before jumping off the gate and into the air with her lower body coiled up in a circle. She swerved the upper half of her body around behind it and then turned her head to look through it. "Dragon Spear!" she yelled before roaring which sent out a mist of white mist.

"That's not normal," she heard Tiaw say.

Smirking, Rose called out, "Try not to get skewered!" as she noticed the weapon, a spear made of a blue water hilt and a pure white ice blade with several winds surrounding it, fly out of the mist and strike Meiling down. "Ha! Crossbow down! Daggers and darts to go!"

"Meiling!" she heard Tiaw yell before the girl tried to get the spear out of Meiling's shoulder.

"Oh come on, I can't believe she is that stupid," Rose said rolling her eyes before uncoiling her body and slamming the tail down right between Betaes and Tiaw which caused them to fall to the ground.

"Dragon's Tail!" Rose yelled before her tail shot out at the two hunters and wrapped around them before slamming their heads together knocking them unconscious.

Rose couldn't help but blink before saying, "Oh dear god that was weak."

* * *

><p>"Man, Rose always get the more opponents," Ryoma commented as he spun the scythe in front of him to avoid getting hit by the spear and sword swinging at him from both sides.<p>

"Why don't you just die already brat?" Aloc said with a glare as he swung his spear up before bringing it down as Shao brought his sword up from an angle from the bottom.

"Because it's no fun," Ryoma said jumping up into the air and doing a flip while at the same time swinging his scythe in his hands creating a light shield made of flame.

'**Go to your left Ryoma**,' he heard before he felt something was shooting at the area that he and the two hunters were in. Deciding to heed to his partner's advice, he found his footing on the tennis court gates and then pushing off to his left.

He never noticed the glance that the two hunters shared as he was too busy following his partner's advice.

He soon knew why because he heard Rose yell, "Scale Barrage!" before the area where he was just at was showered with scales.

Smirking, Ryoma glanced up at his partner catching the small smile on her face before it turned to one of horror. Confused at the change of expression, he turned his head over his shoulder only to widen his eyes as he noticed both Shao and Aloc use their own weapons to deflect the scales…at him!

* * *

><p>"Ryoma!" the tennis players yelled as soon as they saw the scales start flying toward Ryoma. They could barely move as they watched even though they wanted to help out their fellow player. They knew it was impossible though because they had never fought before when the people in front of them obviously had…<p>

"Ryoma!" they heard the dragon yell before it shot off toward Ryoma and got in front of him to block the scales…

However…the dragon could only block some of the scales as they were deflected at several angles that went past her.

The scales that were blocked embedded themselves into the scales on her arms, legs, and back and even made a slight tear in the wings they passed through. The scales that got through her barrier burrowed themselves into Ryoma's arms and legs making him grunt in pain before falling onto his side.

The dragon loudly roared out in pain from the scales before turning her head quickly and glaring at the hunters in front of her.

'_Darn it! I didn't make it in time!_' Rose thought to herself as she stared at the smug-looking hunters Shao and Aloc in front of her.

She narrowed her eyes as she noticed their feet. '_They are going to attack!_' she realized before, out of instinct, she whipped her tail around from the side and smashed the two into the gates.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe she still has a bit of fight in her after getting hit by her own attack," Aloc commented as he stood up.<p>

Glancing over the dragon, Shao noticed the dragon shakily get up and jump into the air to fly before closing her eyes. "What is she thinking?" he asked himself before realizing why.

The dragon soon snapped her eyes open revealing a pure white eye as well as a pure blue eye that seemed to pierce through him. He was sure if the others were staring at her, that they would be frozen on the spot.

He was knocked out of his trance when he heard Aloc yell his name before tackling him out of the way of a Dragon Spear.

Unfortunately for them, they did not see the tail heading their way that smashed into their sides once more sending them sprawling next to their teammates who were finally starting to wake up.

Glancing at his team, he noticed that Mai's shoulder was still bleeding from the Dragon Spear earlier and that Betaes and Tiaw were tired as well from fighting the dragon. Glancing over, he saw Aloc slightly wincing and clutching his side a bit tightly.

Gritting his teeth, Shao glanced over his shoulder to see the dragon with her original golden eyes staring right back at him before they softened just a bit.

'_What?_' he thought as he saw her eyes soften at the team. He noticed her gaze shift between him and went over his team. He couldn't help but notice the slight changes in her eyes as she viewed each and every one of them. When her gaze finally returned to him, he looked at her eyes and barely noticed the emotion show there…was that…compassion? '_No that's impossible,_' he thought to himself remembering the legends of the dragons.

Shaking his head of the thoughts at what he had seen, he gathered him teammates before yelling over his shoulder, "We will be back for you, you creature of hell…" before leaving the tennis grounds with his teammates over his shoulders, on his back, and in his arms.

* * *

><p>"Finally," Rose commented as she watched them leave. Turning her attention to Ryoma, she noticed that he was still pulling her scales from his skin. Her eyes drooped sadly before she moved closer to Ryoma and gently gripped the scales between her teeth and helped him to pull the scales out.<p>

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the other Seigaku regulars had run onto the court now and were running toward them. Bringing her head slightly up, she inclined her head to Ryoma before turning herself to her own body and starting to pull some of the scales out of her own skin.

She knew the Seigaku regulars got her meaning when they started to help patch up Ryoma's open wounds as well as help pull out more scales.

Sight turning black, Rose realized that she had held the transformation for far too long with these injuries before her vision cleared again as she fell to the ground.

* * *

><p>"Rose!" Ryoma yelled as soon as Oishi had finished patching him up. He noticed when she fell along with the rest of the people nearby.<p>

Standing up, he went over to her not noticing the light covering his body. He did notice the light surrounding Rose's body and only noticed his own light when the two lights shattered turning them back into their human forms.

Ryoma widened his eyes in shock and stopped in the spot frozen at what he saw. When the other tennis regulars came up to him, they also froze at Rose's condition.

Because she had been fighting and protecting Ryoma at the same time against Aloc and Shao, she took quite a bit of damage to herself. Her arms, legs, and back were bleeding from the wounds her own Scale Barrage attack had caused.

Shaking himself out of his frozen state, Ryoma went over and started to gently pull the scales that were still embedded in her skin. The others followed his example and started to help pull out the scales from her body. Unlike Ryoma, she was covered in her own scales as she had blocked most of them from even hitting Ryoma.

As soon as they finished, Oishi set to work on patching up the wounds he could get where were her arms and legs. He had the decency to not patch her back as he would have to pull up her shirt for that…

"Neh Ochibi," Eiji called out startling Ryoma a bit. When he got the freshman's attention, he said, "Use a spell on her. She's too injured for this to heal quickly!"

Everyone knew that Eiji was right and that they needed to heal Rose as quickly as possible.

Ryoma nodded before standing up and spreading his hands in the air right above Rose's body. "By the four elements that govern our world, heal the last dragon of this world and restore her bonds to the air and water," he chanted before a blue glowing circle appeared on the girl's chest once more before wrapping around her body and turning white.

The others in the area started to panic before being shushed by the Seigaku regulars who had seen this before.

Pretty soon, the major wounds were closing up quickly before Ryoma started to fall toward the ground from the use of magic that day.

* * *

><p>"Ryoma!" Rose heard faintly as she opened her eyes slowly only to see Ryoma falling. She snapped her eyes open before sitting up quickly and catching him before he hit the ground too harshly.<p>

She looked at him worriedly before taking a deep breath and placing a hand on his chest right above his heart and chanted, "By a myth's eternal hidden power, restore my partner's relation to the fire and earth of the realm in which he resides," before a red circle glowed over his heart. It wrapped around his body much like his own healing spell but instead turned brown.

After making sure that his wounds were mostly healed, she sighed in relief before pulling Ryoma into a hug as she noticed that he had fallen asleep.

Smiling at the sight, several of the tennis players on the courts went over to them and picked them up from the ground to carry them both to the benches to sit down and rest.

Rose nodded her thanks to them before thinking, '_Oh great. More people know about it now. As long as they don't try anything, I won't need to erase their memory…'_


	18. Another Introduction

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have a few questions for all the readers of this story. Am I doing a good job with the rewrite? It's already been around 5 or so chapters and yet no new reviews. Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a good job? How am I doing with the rewrite. With no one reviewing, it's hard for me to know whether I'm making the story better or making it worse. If I don't get that many reviews with the next few chapters, I'll move onto the other stories I am writing and just let this one go until I get more reviews telling me whether I'm doing good or bad because I'm not publishing something that is bad.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Another Introduction<br>**

"That's so cool," a male said as he walked up to the two on the benches. He was a red head and was from the Hyotei team. He was an acrobatic just like Eiji, so the two butted heads often when they were near each other. He did have a darker shade of red hair than Eiji though… "My name is Gakuto Mukahi."

"I didn't think a dragon would still be alive in the modern area," another commented walking up next to his doubles partner. He wore glasses and had somewhat long blue hair. He smirked at the girl that was nearly pouting on the benches at her secret being revealed again. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Yuushi Oshitari."

"I never knew a dragon could be cute either," another boy said coming up from the Hyotei team. "My name is Choutarou Ohtori." He introduced himself. He had light gray hair that was a bit messy, not enough to look bad, but enough for him to look quite cute.

Rose's cheeks flushed before she turned away from them.

Everyone chuckled at the girl's expression before hearing her say, "No one has called me cute before…"

Blinking, everyone turned to see Rose with a blush on her face like before and a confused look in her eyes. They blinked once more before smiling at the girl with their eyes softening.

"You are too cute for words!" someone yelled getting everyone's attention. When the person yelled, "You are just too cute for words," everyone nodded their heads in agreement. This was Jirou Akutagawa, the volley player of Hyotei. He had blonde hair and excited eyes as he had woken up as soon as the fight against the hunters had begun.

Rose looked at them with surprise clear on her face, her blush gone from her face. Looking at the entire group around her and her partner, she smiled before saying, "Thank you all. What are your names?"

"Ore-sama's name is Keigo Atobe. Ore-sama is the captain of the team," the Hyotei captain introduced himself. She noticed how he had purple-ish hair and how he brought himself up like a king. '_Yup, a monkey king like Ryoma says,'_ she thought to herself as she noticed his other features including the beauty mark on his face.

"Sorry about captain. My name is Ryou Shishido," another introduced wearing the Hyotei jersey. He had short dark brown hair hidden under his blue cap. He seemed nice as well as a bit arrogant. "I'm Choutarou's doubles partner."

Another boy, she noticed, was silent and stood by Atobe. "His name is Munehiro Kabaji," Oshitari said gesturing at the dark haired boy. The boy didn't really have that long hair but was incredibly tall and extremely well built.

"Wakashi Hiyoshi," the last from Hyotei commented looking away from the group and at the ground. He had mushroom-like hair that was orange in color. '_He seems like a fighter…probably takes martial arts…'_ she thought as she looked him over.

Looking over at the next group, she noticed another team. "You are Fudoumine aren't you?" she asked looking at their black jerseys.

The group blinked in surprise before affirming that fact.

"My name is Kippei Tachibana and this is my sister Ann," the captain said before gesturing to his sister. He had black, short hair and was well built as well for his age. His sister had auburn hair that framed her face and excited blue eyes.

"He's Akira Kamio," he said pointing to the red-haired player next to him with a slightly bored expression on his face at the moment.

"The speed player right?" Rose asked shocking them again. She then pointed over at the blue-haired boy who was mumbling to himself with his arms crossed over his chest. "And he's Shinji Ibu," she said.

"How did you know?"

"What Ryoma knows, I will know…eventually," she explained a smile. She turned to the other teams and started naming.

"Kiyosumi Sengoku, a boy who relies on his luck more than anything else," she commented pointing to the orange-haired boy on the Yamabuki team with wide and playful eyes. "Jin Akutsu, a boy who loves tennis and quit martial arts a few years ago. Pretty violent if you ask me," she said gesturing to the silver-haired man who stared at her amused with a large smirk on his face. "Taichi Dan, a fan of Ryo-kun because of how similar they are in height," she said pointing to the blushing black-haired boy with a green headband over his forehead that was as tall as Ryoma with a notebook in his hands.

"You are all from St. Rudolph," she said turning around again to another batch of players.

Seigaku could only stare amused as Rose continued naming tennis players and gesturing at them to show her knowledge. They couldn't help but chuckle at the shocked faces. Even Ryoma couldn't help but smirk at them.

"Hajime Mizuki," she said pointing to the dark-haired trainer who stepped back shocked. "Honestly stupid if you ask me for teaching Yuuta Fuji the Twist Spin Shot. By the way, it's nice to see you again Yuuta-kun," she said with a smile on her face as she waved at the brunette with a scar on his face. "Then there is Yoshiroh Akazawa," she said looking over at the dark-haired male with a red ribbon tying his hair up, "he has a brother in Rokkaku who you," she looked again at Mizuki, "mistook him for." The entire group couldn't help but laugh.

"Then comes Rokkaku," she said once more. "Kentarou Aoi, a male with a passion for tennis and for playing against Ryo-kun now that he has seen the skills," she commented as she stared at the happy boy with dark hair that was nearly flat against his head. "Kojirou Saeki, an old childhood friend of Fuji's," she said as she stared at the black and white haired boy who had an amused smile on his face as she continued naming people off.

"Then from Josei Shonan, we have Takahisa Kajimoto, the captain of the team with a pretty flexible body based on what I've researched about him," she said turning to the light brown-haired male with sharp eyes. "Hiroshi Wakato, the vice captain who can copy any tennis player he sees," she said glancing over at the orange-spiky haired boy with a white cap on his head as he whistled at all the information being said. "Reiji Shinjou, who is Aoi Hanamura's, the coach's, favorite masterpiece," she glanced at the coach with the long red hair and glasses over her eyes with a white lab coat over her regulars clothes and then at the male with the silver hair, that had practically no length, and was completely flat against his head. "Then there is Youhei and Kouhei Tanaka, the twins who often get mistaken as girls." Here Rose stared at them with narrowed eyes before saying, "Youhei has the pink hair while Kouhei has the blue hair right?" She got surprised nods from them both in return before she said, "And the last doubles pair made of Shou Oota and Daichi Kiriyama whose height differences make up their best move," while looking at the two players. Shou was the one with the dark blue wavy hair and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes while Daichi had darkish-green hair with a light blue headband holding it away from his eyes.

"Last but certainly not least is Rikkaidai. Unfortunately only Genichirou Sanada, Yanagi Renji, Yagyuu Hiroshi, Niou Masaharu, Marui Bunta, Kuwahara Jackal, and Kirihara Akaya could make it today huh…I feel sorry for your captain for not being able to watch," she said with a soft smile on her face as she stared at them. She glanced between them all in the order she had said their names in.

Sanada had dark hair that was pretty short and was covered by the black cap on top of his head. Yanagi had pretty flat dark brown hair that only went past his ears and kept his eyes closed during the entire chat between her and the others. Yagyuu had short dark purple hair and glasses that hid his eyes from the rest of the world. Niou had spiky silver hair that, if flattened, looked to be around chin-length. Marui had dark red hair, nearly pink, and was currently popping another bubble gum as he stared at her with an amused expression on his face. Jackal was the only dark-skin-toned male in the group and was bald. He was probably foreign considering those looks… Kirihara had black hair that was very unruly. It looked like a bunch of seaweed. His eyes were excited though, and Rose could tell that he wanted to talk about her dragon self.

"How did you know all that?" Yanagi commented with his glasses shining.  
>Rose smiled before saying, "Not only did I get some information from Ryo-kun, but I also looked up rival schools just in case something happened."<p>

"Impressive to have named us all right away," the boy commented nodding his head slightly.

Rose smiled, which was pretty contagious as the others smiled along as well, before she widened her eyes slightly and started to cough. "Excuse me," she said weakly before getting up and running out of the courts with her coughing getting worse by the minute.

"Rose?" Ryoma questioned as soon as she had left the courts. Standing up wobbly, he started jogging after her even though he knew that it would probably do more harm than good for his own body. He realized that he was right when his legs buckled under him after a few steps, and he started to fall.

"Ryoma!" Fuji said running up and grabbing the boy's arm gently to avoid letting him fall to the ground.

"Thanks Fuji-senpai," Ryoma said getting back up and, with the help of the others around him, went searching for Rose.

* * *

><p>The group found her near the water fountains and bent over at the waist so her head was directly above them. They saw her shaking and trembling before she tensed and started coughing something up.<p>

"Rose!" Ryoma called out walking up to the girl and watching her freeze up. "Are you alright?" he asked hesitantly. She had never frozen in front of him before unless it was because she had been attacked like earlier with the Scale Barrage, so this was a bit unsettling for him.

He soon realized why she froze as she turned around quickly with frightened eyes on her face. Widening his eyes, he couldn't help but stare at the blood dripping from her mouth. Looking at the fountain, he saw a few red spots that were still getting washed down the drain.

"What in the world?" Marui commented seeing the girl's bloodied face.

Before anyone could ask her any other question, Rose took off in a random direction with tears streaming down her face. '_I should have never made the contract!'_ she yelled in her mind as she ran.

If she had turned around, she would have seen Ryoma widen his eyes further before falling to his knees on the ground with a shocked expression on his face.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong Ryoma?" Oishi asked worried that Ryoma was still hurt.<p>

"She…she wishes that she never made a contract with me," he whispered under his breath as he stared at the ground wondering why she would even think that…

"Why would she say something like that?" Eiji yelled surprised at the words. "She cares for you a lot Ochibi, so why would she say that?"

"How should I know?" Ryoma questioned back still confused and shocked about everything.

"Maybe she didn't want you to worry about her in the first place Ryo-kun," Fuji commented kneeling down next to the boy and placing a comforting hand on the smaller's shoulder.

"But we are partners…we are supposed to tell each other if something is wrong…" Ryoma quietly said back as if to convince himself that the fact was true.

"But there is, again, the fact that she never wants anyone to worry about her. Remember her curse?" When he got a nod, he continued, "She didn't want you to know about that either until it happened. She doesn't want you to worry about her, and she doesn't want others to worry about her either."

Ryoma nodded once more before standing up on his own two feet with Fuji's help. Looking up at everyone, he said, "Let's get going. I'm getting my partner back."

Everyone smiled before running along with Ryoma to areas of the town to search.

* * *

><p>An hour of searching had passed, and they still hadn't found the girl.<p>

"Where could she be?" Marui commented as he blew another bubble and popped it.

As soon as he popped it, the group heard shuffling in the bushes near them. They had ended up near the river. Ryoma suggested coming to the river as that was where he and she had trained before the first hunter attack.

Glancing to each other, they each gave a small, miniscule nod before parting and leaving the area.

* * *

><p>"Phew, they all left," Rose commented as she stepped out of the bushes and walked over to the river bed. Taking a deep breath, she gently stepped onto the water surface and placed her entire weight into her foot on the water.<p>

Surprisingly, she did not sink into the river like one would think. Instead she stood on top of it. Thinking about it, I guess it wouldn't be much of a surprise considering she is a dragon of the air and water…

Rose walked into the very middle of the river before entwining her hands in front of her face as if in a prayer. She was even leaning her face toward the ground a bit to make it look like she was actually in prayer.

She lifted her head up slightly with closed eyes and her hands still in front of her face before slowly raising them open into the sky and flaring them open.

Taking another deep breath, she spoke aloud to the night sky. "Please from the love of heaven and hell. Please allow me to live another day. I know that my body, especially by mortal human form, cannot handle so many wounds at once." Here she opened her eyes and pleaded toward the sky. "I want to protect Ryoma. I want to protect his friends. I want to protect those closest to him."

A tear started falling down her cheeks before being followed by others. "If I can't get rid of the excess blood that my heart creates, I will die and leave Ryoma alone for a time. It may be only a short time, but that is just enough for him to die." She started sniffling and crying a bit louder as her eyes teared up further. "Please! I don't want to be a burden to him or his friends! My heart is already torn enough from seeing my kind massacred before my own eyes when I was just a little baby! I…I…I don't want to see someone important to me die when I can prevent it…"

Here her arms fell to her sides as she collapsed to her knees and continued looking up toward the sky with a crying face. "I don't want to see anyone die…I don't want to see any more deaths…I…I won't be able to handle it…What do I do? What do I do? What…"

Rose kept repeating the question over and over before she covered her face with her hands as she cried. After only a few minutes, she was openly sobbing into her hands as she thought of the consequences that her death may bring to Ryoma and the others.

She was so out of it that she jumped when she felt someone hug her from behind. Jumping from being startled, she turned her head over her shoulder to see Ryoma hugging her from behind along with the other tennis players on the bank of the river.

"Everyone?" Rose questioned seeing them all on the bank side.


	19. More Blood?

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have a few questions for all the readers of this story. Am I doing a good job with the rewrite? It's already been around 5 or so chapters and yet no new reviews. Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a good job? How am I doing with the rewrite. With no one reviewing, it's hard for me to know whether I'm making the story better or making it worse. If I don't get that many reviews with the next few chapters, I'll move onto the other stories I am writing and just let this one go until I get more reviews telling me whether I'm doing good or bad because I'm not publishing something that is bad.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>More Blood?<strong>

Everyone couldn't bear to watch the girl cry. They now knew the reason why she never told them anything dealing with her injuries or curses…she was scared that she would become a burden.

Glancing to each other, they knew that they had to show the girl that they cared for her no matter what would happen.

They all watched as Ryoma motioned them all to be quiet as they walked to the side of the river. Standing there, they could only watch in hidden fascination as Ryoma took a deep breath and stepped onto the water of the river.

They knew that, unlike Rose, Ryoma had no affinity for the water element. They were surprised however when a large rock, like the stones in pavement, floated up to the surface of the water right under Ryoma's foot. That was a bit surpri- wait…Ryoma is the reality of the fire and earth! No wonder he can do that…

Ryoma stepped across the river to Rose and hugged the girl from behind obviously startling her.

They all flinched at the tears that were streaming down the girl's face as she turned toward them all.

Giving encouraging smiles at the girl, they continued to watch as Ryoma whispered into Rose's ears. They knew that they were comforting words as they saw Rose visibly relax in him embrace before her eyes drooped and closed signaling that she was probably asleep.

* * *

><p>Ryoma picked Rose up into his arms gently as to not wake her and walked back along the same stone path back to the other tennis players. As soon as he left one stone, it floated back down to the bottom of the river as if it was never there to begin with. He did this to not arouse suspicion to anyone who might have wandered past the river later.<p>

Finally making it to the others, he looked at them all before saying, "I guess this means that you are all staying at my house then. I'm sure we have more than enough room to fit you all in our house."

"Are you sure Echizen? We do have a lot of people here…" Oishi commented looking at everyone. He could count at least thirty-five other people not including themselves. If they included the Seigaku regulars, there would be…forty-three visitors!

Ryoma shrugged before moving a hand around to feel for his cell phone. Once he got it, he shifted Rose in his arms so that he would be able to call home. "Hello? Oyaji? Can you get okaa-san on the line? Yes, I want to talk to okaa-san. No I am not on a date with Rose right now! Will you just get okaa-san on the phone baka Oyaji?" he nearly yelled to the amusement of the other regulars that knew him.

"Evening okaa-san. Would it be alright to have…forty-three people over tonight? They are all worried about Rose and want to make sure that she is okay…Nothing too bad happened today. No, she didn't play a match. What have I been doing?" Here the regulars could see Ryoma's eyebrows rise up in panic as to the next excuse.

Here Tezuka took the phone away from Ryoma and talked. "Hello Echizen-san? Yes, I am Tezuka, the captain of the Seigaku male tennis team. We were at a celebratory party for our win at the tournament along with several other schools that are with us now. The weather got to Rose, and she fainted during the party. We were all wondering whether we would be able to come over and watch over her as she is the only female regular. Thank you very much Echizen-san. We will try to behave." Here Tezuka hung up the phone and handed it back to Ryoma with a sigh. "I took care of it," he stated as the others gave him a strange look.

"Thank you Tezuka-buchou. You should probably all call home and get some sleeping bags. From what I know, my baka oyaji will probably force us to sleep outside on the temple grounds as we don't have enough room for forty-three guests."

"We actually have to get going back to our own homes and prepare for our school later. Sorry Echizen-kun, but I would love it if you gave me a call and told me how our little dragon is doing neh," Saeki said writing his phone number on a piece of paper that Inui provided. After he wrote it down, he handed it to Ryoma. "Those are Aoi's and my phone numbers. Feel free to call if you need anything," he said before leading Aoi to the train station in order to get a ride back home.

"We have to go as well. We have more training to do if we want to catch up to you," Hanamura said as she smiled at the others. "But please," she took the paper away from Ryoma and started writing some things down on it. "Please give us a call when she is doing better. We would love to see her play instead of standing on the sidelines," she said giving it back and leaving along with her team.

"We have to go too unfortunately. I wish I could stay and see how the girl feels later. Dan, can you give them our numbers as well?" Sengoku asked while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course-desu," Dan said with a smile as he took out a pen and wrote his and Sengoku's numbers down. "Do you want me to write down your number as well Akutsu-san?" He only got a grunt and a 'do whatever you want' from the boy before writing down the silver-hair's number as well. "See you all later-desu!" he yelled waving as the Yamabuki boys left.

"I would love to stay and ob-" Mizuki was cut off by a hand over his mouth by none other than Yuuta.

"Sorry Echizen-kun. I'm afraid if we let Mizuki-senpai stay, he will only watch for data. We'll just be going now to not bother you. Aniki, feel free to tell me how she is doing later okay?" he asked before leaving along with the rest of St. Rudolph as he got a nod from his older brother. What can he say? He was interested in the girl's well-being ever since Seigaku's first stay at his residence when he first met the girl.

"Are you going to leave as well?" Momo asked the Fudoumine team as they looked rather sheepish.

"I have to take Ann home before our parents start worrying. Sorry Tezuka-san," Tachibana said with a small bow of his head. "Please do tell us when she is better," he commented before writing their numbers down on the paper that Ryoma had.

After they left, Hyotei and Rikkaidai confirmed that they were able to stay at Ryoma's house in order to look over the girl and see how she was feeling.

Ryoma looked over the paper in his hands and noticed how he had the phone numbers of practically everyone that helped him search for Rose earlier. He could only blink at the amount of phone numbers and showed his senpai which also got shocked looked from them.

"One day of knowing her and they are that worried about her?" Momo questioned before glancing at the sleeping girl. "Popular little runt," he teased with a smile on his face as he looked at her peaceful face.

"I need to call home again," Ryoma said pulling out his phone once more. "Make sure you get your parents to bring your things so you can stay over." Then he called his home once again to tell his mom that there would only be twenty-four guests coming instead of the original forty-three. Luckily, they had enough room in the spare bedrooms and living room to fit them all as long as they were behaving. Whether they slept outside or not would be the others' choices.

* * *

><p>An hour later found everyone eating dinner outside on the temple grounds right outside Ryoma's home. Everyone decided to sleep in the living room or on the patio of the house under the canopy instead of in the rooms upstairs as they would be more cramped in there than down on the floor.<p>

Rose was still resting in her room as Ryoma had taken her straight there to rest before coming down to eat.

As they continued looking up at the stars, they heard footsteps behind them and turned around to see Rose peeking out from behind a wall.

"I see that you are all better," Ryoma said with a small smile toward her motioning her to come over with an encouraging look in his eyes.

Rose looked down at the ground shyly before slowing moving from behind the wall and walking over to Ryoma before sitting down next to him.

"We won't ask about the blood if that is what is bothering you Rose," Ryoma said taking her hand gently.

"We heard what you said abut you worrying about burdening us. We can promise you that you aren't a burden and that you never will be. We just want to help you Rose-chan," Jirou said for once being serious as he stared into Rose's eyes.

"Thank you Jirou-senpai," Rose replied with a nod of her head from where she sat next to Ryoma.

"Ro?" Ryoma questioned getting her attention. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to but…what is this problem with your heart that you mentioned earlier at the river?"

Rose raised an eyebrow in surprise before commenting, "So…not everything about me made it into your head then…"

"Everything?"

Rose nodded before saying, "If everything about me had gone to you, then you would understand what my heart has to do with anything. My heart problem goes back to the blood. And before you say anything, I don't mind talking about it to you. You are my partner after all, and I realize that. It's just…a bit difficult…for me to talk about anything that could bring potential harm."

"We are all listening," Atobe commented as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Monkey King," Rose commented with a teasing smile as she shook her head slightly. Before he could retort in the slightest, she started talking. "My heart is the heart of a dragon. The dragon is a myth itself but the heart of one is one of the greatest legends known to the mythical realm."

"Why is that nya?" Eiji asked as he latched onto his partner's shoulders again.

Rose smile at him before replying, "My dragon heart creates blood to heal my wounds and replace old blood."

"Old blood?"

"Yes old blood. The blood that runs through a dragon's veins constantly renews itself. Mythical creatures have blood containing mystical properties that allow us to use our magic to the fullest. However, dragons are peculiar creatures when it comes to that aspect," she giggled at the end. When she got questioning looks, she explained, "The blood that runs through a dragon's veins will slowly get weaker and weaker until the magic is useless."

"What does that have to do with your heart?" Gakuto said interrupting her which got a small glare from those that were paying attention.

"Don't glare at him, he is just curious," Rose said with a small sheepish smile on her face. "As to your question, my heart creates the new blood with the newest and purest magic that I can gather from the magic around us." Here she reached up her hand with her palm facing the sky. "There is magic all around, but only a bit of it can be changed into usable magic by the mythical animals," she said as she concentrated on the space above her palm and created a five-pointed star made of ice before it disappeared.

"When I get as many wounds as I do from the battle earlier, my heart accelerates more than usual in order to create new blood to both heal myself and replenish my magic. However, when Ryoma healed my wounds with a spell, my body didn't know what to do with the excess blood flowing through my veins which resulted in the coughing fit you saw earlier at the fountain."

Looking at everyone, she just said with a small smile, "That's the reason why I don't like Ryoma to heal me so much. Not only is he still new with healing, but it is also a problem for me at times when I am seriously injured. I don't want to have a blood coughing fit each time I get too many wounds from a battle."

"Sorry Rose. I just wanted to help," Ryoma said when she finished her explanations.

"I know you just wanted to help partner. Don't worry about it," she said waving it off with her hand dismissively.

That didn't seem to comfort Ryoma though as he still looked a bit guilty for being a possible cause of her coughing up blood.

Rose stared at him with a kind look in her faces before she leaned over closer to him. She leaned down close enough to reach his ear. Instead of whispering to him like the others thought, she turned back around and kissed him on the forehead.

Rose got the reaction she wanted as she saw that Ryoma was clearly shocked.

The others could only blink in surprise, especially the Seigaku regulars. They knew that the two 'dating' was just an act to avoid suspicion about their secret.

Rose stared at Ryoma happily as she noticed him go back to normal. Even though she smiled on the outside, her inside emotions were churning around. '_If only I could…_' she thought to herself as she sorted her emotions out once more.


	20. Promise from a Mystic

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have a few questions for all the readers of this story. Am I doing a good job with the rewrite? It's already been around 5 or so chapters and yet no new reviews. Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a good job? How am I doing with the rewrite. With no one reviewing, it's hard for me to know whether I'm making the story better or making it worse. If I don't get that many reviews with the next few chapters, I'll move onto the other stories I am writing and just let this one go until I get more reviews telling me whether I'm doing good or bad because I'm not publishing something that is bad.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Promise from a Mystic<strong>

The next morning found everyone waking up to the smell of freshly cooked meat.

"I think we might have accidently fallen asleep outside," Oshitari commented rubbing his eyes behind his glasses as he sat up. Looking around, he noticed that the ground around them was lighter than the rest of the ground surrounding them.

Before he could pose a question, everyone looked toward Rose who carried trays of food for them all. Two were on each arm with a fifth one perched on top of her head.

"I'll help you Rose-chan," Kawamura said standing up from where he lay and walking over to take two of the trays away from her. Ryoma stood up to take off the tray from her head and set it down on a nearby table with the other trays.

Rose looked around and noticed that a few kept glancing at the ground around the people that accidently fell onto the dirt floor outside of the home. She smiled before commenting, "If you are wondering why the ground around you people looks different than the rest, the reason is because it rained yesterday night while you were all asleep."

"What?" some of them exclaimed as they stopped eating to instead listen to her.

Rose and Ryoma glanced at each of their faces and started snickering at them. The expressions on their faces were too funny to not laugh at.

Before the two knew it, they were laughing loudly with joy clear on their faces and in their laughs.

The Seigaku regulars could only stare in shock at what they were seeing. They could not believe that they were watching Ryoma laughing freely along with Rose. Mentally smiling to themselves, they couldn't help but be happy that their antisocial prince was starting to open up in front of them even if it was only because of Rose.

"Wait a minute!" Gakuto yelled getting everyone's attention again. "If it was raining yesterday, then why aren't some of us soaking wet even though we were right where the rain could have hit?"

Rose giggled at their faces before taking her own share of food and answering, "It's pretty simple in my opinion. Since my elements are air and water, I created a plane of air above you before making sure the water would not soak into the ground and get closer to you."

The more expressive ones widened their eyes in shock and nearly gaped while the more stoic ones just nodded in understanding.

They knew that Ryoma and Rose knew their limits and how far they could go with their powers without going overboard with them. They were glad that the two of them were part of the regulars group…

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of eating breakfast, Rose glanced over to Ryoma before asking, "Do you think we should tell your parents about this? It is getting harder to tweak their memories to include me, and I know that you hated that I had to tweak their memories to fit me in the first place."<p>

"What do you suggest then?" Ryoma said slowing down his eating along with the rest who were starting to pay attention to their conversation.

Rose looked up thoughtfully while tapping her chopsticks against her chin. "We could explain things to them from the start."

"From what start?"

"Well…we could probably start off with my past and then how you found me," Rose suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. "They might accept me again when I erase the memories including me from their minds."

"If you are sure that is a good idea," Ryoma said shrugging as well. "But what if they don't accept you?" he asked with a worried glint in his eyes.

Rose glanced over at him again before sighing and saying, "We'll figure it out when we get there. Let's just hope that they accept me for me this time."

Ryoma looked at the ground before hesitantly nodding his approval of the plan. He wanted his parents back to normal, but he still wanted Rose to be accepted by them as well.

"Let's tell them then. Will you guys be joining us?" she asked the regulars before getting nods from them in return.

It turns out that the regulars wanted to know more about the girl's past anyway, so they didn't mind staying longer than they planned in order to learn a bit more.

"Hey! Baka Oyaji!" Ryoma yelled out startling the other tennis regulars. They never really heard Ryoma yell when they were around, so hearing him yell was a first.

"What is it seishounen?" Nanjiroh yelled back sleepily as he reached the second story window and stared down at them while rubbing his tired eyes.

"Get the others down here!" Ryoma yelled back hoping to get his dad awake a bit to hear what Rose had to say.

"Why should I?" Nanjiroh whined before getting smacked in the back of the head by Rinko.

"What do you need Ryoma-kun?" Rinko asked politely with a motherly smile on her face.

"Rose has something to explain to everyone," Ryoma calmly said back as he would never yell at his mother unlike his father who was an idiot.

"Alright Ryoma-kun," Rinko said before leaving the window to wake up Nanako while dragging Nanjiroh by the ear.

"What should I say first?" Rose asked as she noticed the rest of the family finally reach the grounds outside.

"How about your past for starters like you planned?" Ryoma questioned glancing over at his partner.

Rose nodded before taking a deep breath as she turned toward the rest of the family. "You don't know me," she said snapping her fingers in the air.

"If we don't know you…then who are you?" Rinko questioned as every memory of Rose started to fade away from her memories along with Nanjiroh's and Nanako's.

"My name is Rose. Rose Ryu. You neither know me nor my true form."

"Your true form?" Nanako questioned tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Rose nodded her head before explaining. "I'm not even a human. I'm a dragon from the legends millennia ago." She watched as their eyes widened before she continued, "Those legends…they are partly true but also false. It may be true that my species was…massacred but the reason for it is not as the hunters say."

"So what is your side of the story then?" Nanjiroh asked crossing his arms over his chest.

Sighing, Rose took another deep breath. "Let me explain what a dragon is first of all. A dragon has two skills…skills of the elements or skills on how to fight. Some dragons are lucky and get both which include me as there is a one in ten chance of it happening."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Kirihara interrupted getting a glare from Ryoma.

"Calm down Ryo. He is asking a good question," she said placing a hand on his arm. "As for the answer, the reason I am saying this is because there is only one way for a dragon to unleash those skills…"

"And that would be?" Sanada questioned also a bit curious about why the legend of the dragons was wrong.

"In order for dragons to unleash their powers, they need to form a pact with their destined human partner," Ryoma answered as he knew this part by heart. That one fact alone was what set him off about the dragon legend.

"But then how could the dragons have attacked the hunters in the legend then?"

"That is exactly it though," Rose commented. "We never attacked them first...THEY attacked us…"

"But why would they? I mean I've heard several rumors about the powers of a dragon under contract," Oshitari said rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Rose smiled at him sadly before closing her eyes. "That is one of the reasons we never formed pacts after the hunters showed. Yes it is true that our scales are good for armor as well as weapons, but we also allow our human partners to be targets of those who want our power."

"So you broke up your pacts in order to protect them from the hunters?" Niou asked with a raised eyebrow. When he got a nod, he asked, "What could the hunters have done? I mean they were all humans…"

He stopped talking when he saw the look of pain cross Rose's face as well as a slight flinch from Ryoma. "What did they do?" he asked hesitantly as if scared to know the answer.

Taking Ryoma's hand, Rose explained, "They would capture our human partners…put them in a jail cell…torture them, whip them, starve them, suffocate them, hurt them, bleed them, slap them, kick them, did whatever they could do them just to make them talk!" With each word, her voice grew louder and louder from the anger she felt toward the hunters. "Our partners were in danger because of us so we broke our pacts risking our lives so that they would be spared! As long as we never had human partners, our destined would never be harmed by the hunters!"

"But that led to your downfall as you could never access your powers without a partner…" Yanagi concluded from the information.

"That is correct," Rose sighed after calming down.

"I have a question," Shishido spoke up with a raised hand. After he got a nod from Rose, he asked, "Where were you during the…massacre?"

Rose looked down at the ground before answering, "I was hiding. I was just a little over a hundred year old dragon…pretty much the equivalent of a human toddler and younger…My parents told me to hide when they saw humans coming our way. The other young dragons weren't as lucky as me…for one they were closer to the hunters than I was as I was usually by myself to practice my flying. They were all cornered…they…they…they…" Here, Rose's eyes started to tear up as she remembered the exact events that had happened.

Ryoma squeezed her hand reassuringly before he reached into her mind to see what she was remembering. When he did find out what she remembered, his eyes widened in shock before he scowled at nothing in particular. Everyone could hear him mutter under his breath, "When I get my hands on those hunters, they are going to pay…"

"What happened?"

"They were slaughtered…all of them…slaughtered right in front of her very eyes," Ryoma answered knowing that his dragon partner could not. "They didn't even get a clean death…the hunters made them suffer…amputated them...dragged them…hurt them so much that I could not imagine what would happen if the dragons were able to fight back…"

"They did what?" Rinko and Nanako yelled before turning their attention to Rose and seeing the girl crying into her hands.

Everyone could hear her whispering, "Okaa-san…otou-san…aniki…everyone…"

They all watched as Ryoma turned over a bit and gathered Rose into his arms and allowed her to cry into him. She needed the comfort, and they all knew it.

"Maybe we should continue this some other time," Oshitari suggested seeing how Rose was acting.

The others were about to agree until Rose shook her head 'no' before whispering something to Ryoma.

"She wants me to tell the rest," Ryoma said adjusting his sitting position to make Rose more comfortable as she leaned against his chest. "During Seigaku's trip to Lake Virtue, she was in a cave that was hidden by the lake. More precisely behind a waterfall."

"Oh yeah!" Eiji yelled suddenly. "I remember that! That was where this so called creature kidnapped people from the lake side before returning them. That was her!"

Ryoma nodded before continuing, "When we returned, there were five descendents of the hunters from millennia ago. That was when my team first found out her secret during the battle. It was pretty easy but ended up with a few scratches on us."

"Then there was another battle yesterday during our match against Hyotei," Fuji started explaining as they could all vouch for this one. "The hunters came back and were able to deflect one of Rose's attacks back at them harming both her and Ryoma. This caused other schools to find out including Hyotei, Rikkaidai, and a few from Rokkaku, Fudoumine, Josei Shounen, Yamabuki, and St. Rudolph."

"That doesn't explain what happened to our memories earlier. I could have sworn that Rose was a part of our family already," Nanjiroh said scratching the back of his head.

Sniffling, Rose answered, "About that. In order to keep me around to protect Ryoma without causing any suspicion, I had to tweak with your memories to include me. I've already fixed them to the point where you never met me before our return from Lake Virtue. I do hope that you forgive me and still accept me," she said before bowing her head to show her respect to her partner's family.

The school regulars could definitely see that shock on the Echizen's faces when they saw her bow her head.

Ryoma held Rose's hands tightly in order to show that he would support her as a friend.

Smiling, Rose looked back up to see the family's faces. She smiled even wider when she saw the look in their eyes. Gratitude, determination, and most of all, a look of acceptance were in them.

Everyone saw the looks on their faces and felt relieved for the dragon girl.

"Of course we will accept you. After everything you went through, you still protected Ryoma and his friends even though you have a good reason to hate any and all humans. How can we not accept the protector of our own son?" he asked throwing an arm around Rinko's shoulders.

"We accept you for who you are," Rinko said with a smile. "I am terribly sorry about the…slaughter of your kind so many years ago…" she said sympathetically hoping to show that she was concerned for the girl which was received with a thankful nod of her head.

"For a dragon, you sure are cute," Nanako interrupted with a giggle which got everyone nodding in agreement.

Rose once again blushed scarlet and looked down at the ground causing a fit of giggles and chuckles from everyone.

"Wait a minute," Nanjiroh stopped suddenly as he realized something. "You said that you had a true form earlier. May we see it?"

Rose glanced over at Ryoma before nodding her head. "I'll be needing Ryoma as he is my partner," she said standing up and walking to the very middle of the grounds outside of the house.

Rose and Ryoma took a deep breath before concentrating on their transformations once more. Another light covered them before shattering to show their forms.

"Well this is different," Rose commented swinging her tail around lightly across the ground careful not to touch anything.

"You are telling me," Ryoma said lifting his hands to his face and looking at them.

"When did I have a bladed tail?" she questioned lifting her tail to show the others what she was talking about. Not only was she now a pure white dragon, but there were silver blades on her tail and one that obviously showed that was quite larger than the others. Her mane was now silver while her wings were now translucent and practically see-through. Everyone could see some sparkles floating off of her wings though. They continued to watch as the sparkles reached the ground before turning into a water drop and soaking into the ground below her.

Ryoma had another outfit than the other times he had transformed. He had on a white open vest with silver buttons with a black tight tank top underneath that barely covered his stomach and lower back. There were two dark silver fingerless gloves on his hands with white leather straps keeping them on. He also wore a pair of dark grey pants with a black stripe down one side that led to the black slip-on fighting shoes he was now wearing.

"This is so much different than how you looked before," Momo commented with shock clear on his face.

"That is obvious peach-head," Kaidoh hissed before starting another fight between the two which everyone laughed at.

"I think that the more people we show or tell, the more our appearances will change," Rose commented as she waved her tail around a bit to get used to the extra weight the blades added to her tail. She even spread her wings just to spread the floating sparkles and watch as they turned into water once they touched something.

Transforming back into their human forms, Rose commented, "Looks like my human appearance won't change in the slightest though." Turning to the rest of the group, she asked with a serene smile. "Do you promise to keep my secret until the day that we reveal it to all?"

Getting nods from everyone, she smiled even wider and commented, "Then it's a deal from the mystics!"


	21. Wait What?

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have a few questions for all the readers of this story. Am I doing a good job with the rewrite? It's already been around 5 or so chapters and yet no new reviews. Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a good job? How am I doing with the rewrite. With no one reviewing, it's hard for me to know whether I'm making the story better or making it worse. If I don't get that many reviews with the next few chapters, I'll move onto the other stories I am writing and just let this one go until I get more reviews telling me whether I'm doing good or bad because I'm not publishing something that is bad.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Wait What? <strong>

"We are going where now?" Rose questioned as she walked along with the others.

"We are going to one of Atobe's beach resorts. His team has invited us and a few other schools to go for a vacation for our win to go to the next tournament," Tezuka explained after shifting the position of the bag over his shoulder.

Rose nodded in understanding before gripping Tezuka's hand in her own and somehow pulling him up further ahead of the group without them noticing. Glancing over at Tezuka and getting his attention, she whispered, "How is your elbow?"

"I got it checked," he whispered back. "It's doing much better than before. I nearly got scolded for rehabilitating on my own."

"At least it is getting better," she said with a small smile. "I've been learning a bit more about my healing abilities. I might be able to heal your arm fully after a few months if you would allow."

Tezuka nodded before asking, "Does anyone else know about it?"

Rose shook her head 'no' as a response.

"Not even Echizen?" he questioned knowing that the two were partners.

Rose just shook her head again before saying, "Some things I am able to block from getting into his head. We may share a mental connection, but there are things better left unknown don't you think?"

Tezuka nodded his agreement before turning over his shoulder to see that the others had noticed that they were behind and started catching up.

"So we are meeting up where?" Rose questioned while letting go of Tezuka's hand.

"You guys are already here at the meeting place," a voice said from their right.

Turning to the sound of the voice, the Seigaku regulars faced Atobe himself along with the other schools that were invited.

"Wow…You invited everyone that knows my secret…" Rose commented looking around and spotting someone. "Except him," she said pointing to the blue-haired male next to Sanada. "May I get your name?"

"Seiichi Yukimura," he said opening his eyes revealing violet as he stared at the girl in front of him. His vice-captain was correct in how she looked. He couldn't wait to see the secret about her. Not even his own teammates would spill any information about the girl, so he decided when Atobe invited the teams to the beach resort that he had to come and see the girl for himself.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Rose. Rose Ryu," she said smiling back at the boy. Based on first glance, she knew that something was wrong with him…not mentally…but physically.

"Come on, everyone is taking Ore-sama's private jet," Atobe said snapping his fingers before leading everyone into the building ahead of them where Atobe kept his jets and planes.

"That is one large plane," Momo said gaping at the size of the thing.

"It has to be because it has to fit all of us," Gakuto said with a smirk on his face.

"I'd rather not take a plane to get there…" Rose commented with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Yukimura asked confused at what she meant.

Everyone who realized what she was talking about just glanced to each other with smirks on their faces before shrugging.

"Should I come along?" Ryoma questioned to the girl.

"Only if you want to. I would rather you not fall though if you do come along," Rose said with a smile back at him.

"I'll go then. What's the worst that can happen?" Ryoma questioned with a shrug.

Atobe sighed before saying, "Fine brats. Here are the coordinates of the beach. Make sure you meet us there."

"Or beat you there," Rose said with a smirk as she took a look at the coordinates along with Ryoma.

"Let's go then," Atobe said leading everyone onto the plane while leaving Rose and Ryoma behind.

Once the plane took off, Ryoma and Rose just stared at it before turning their attention to each other.

"So how do you want this to work?" Rose asked. "You can fly a bit, but you can't do anything that long of a distance. You can only fly three miles at best so far with your training with the dragon armor wings that we have been working on for the past few weeks."

"Right, I can't fly for very long," Ryoma said before reaching over to his back where his wings would pop out of. They had changed over the weeks of training. Instead of remaining just like bird wings, they instead spread to the point where they were each five feet in length. Instead of looking like single bird feathers, there were several layers of ice feathers now that were light blue in color.

"I could always just transform and fly us there. I can make sure you don't suffocate in the air as well because of my element," she suggested.

"But what about Yukimura? He doesn't know about it," Ryoma commented.

"What do you suggest then?"

"…Never mind then…"

Rose smiled at Ryoma before closing her eyes and transforming back into the dragon form she was in earlier when they revealed her form to Ryoma's family. "Hop onto my back, and I'll start flying. Make sure to grab a bit of my mane though so you won't fly off."

Ryoma jumped onto her back where the end of her mane was before gently gripping a few strands of hair.

"Make sure you hold on tight Ryoma. I don't want you flying off," she said backing up a bit before charging forward and jumping off the ground while stretching out her wings. "It's been a while since I've flown a long distance so hold on tight!"

"Whoa!" Ryoma yelled nearly falling onto his back as they flew through the air quickly in order to catch up to the plane.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile on the plane, everyone was chatting.<p>

"Is anyone going to tell me what the big deal with that girl is?" Yukimura asked staring at his vice-captain before turning to the others who had stopped their chatting.

"Well-OCHIBI!" Eiji yelled startled as he looked out the window.

"What?" everyone said turning to look outside the windows on the side that Eiji was staring at.

Yukimura widened his eyes at the sight. There was a dragon…right outside the window! "What in the world?" he whispered to himself as he looked the dragon over and noticed Ryoma laying on his stomach with a peaceful expression on his face as he lay on the dragon's back while holding a few strands of mane hair.

"Looks like Rose is having fun," Fuji commented placing his chin in his hand which was propped up by his elbow on a nearby armrest as he took a look at Rose's expression.

The dragon had her wings spread out for a two-mile wingspan while her own body looked to be about four miles long from what he could tell. He never noticed how long her skinny self seemed to be…mainly because she was always curled up when she fought in the tennis courts. What really was important was the serene smile on her face as she continued to glide through the air right next to the jet careful not to touch it.

They all watched as the dragon opened one eye in their direction before turning its head around and nuzzling Ryoma a bit. This got the boy to wake up from whatever dreaming he was doing and rub his eyes from the drowsiness.

When the dragon inclined her head toward the jet, Ryoma looked over and saw the shocked faces of everyone inside. He could only give a smirk before turning back to Rose and chuckling along with her as she turned her head back to the sky in front of her.

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><p>'<strong>Think I should Ryo?<strong>' Rose asked her partner as they glided through the air.

'**Should you do what Ro?**' he questioned back as he lay back down on her back.

'**Maybe…invite a few friends along with us?**'

'**It depends…what type of friends are you talking about?**'

'**Maybe…a few local fliers?**'

'**As in?**'

'**Hawks, eagles, cranes, and other birds,**' she answered back with a chuckle.

Ryoma remained quiet before shrugging his shoulders as an answer.

Rose knew what he meant and took a deep breath before letting out a loud roar.

Ryoma glanced over at the jet to see that the others had to cover their ears which made him widen his eyes. '**Make sure that the jet is steady!**' he mentally yelled to his partner.

'**Got it,**' she said before wrapping a bit of her tail around the middle section of the jet to make sure it would remain on its course while the pilot got his bearings back after recovering from the roar.

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><p>"What do you think that was about buchou?" Gakuto complained while rubbing his ears.<p>

"How would Ore-sama know huh?" Atobe replied before looking out the windows. "Never mind then…Ore-sama knows what she was doing."

"And that would be?" Kirihara questioned before looking out the windows. "Oh…"

"What?" everyone questioned before looking. Everyone blinked once before muttering, "That's a lot of birds…"

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><p>'<strong>You sure called a lot of friends didn't you?<strong>' Ryoma commented as he stared at all the birds surrounding them and the jet.

Rose swerved from side to side between all the birds. '**I sure did. They were all flying within a mile of us, so I just called them all over for a flight session,**' she explained happily. She roared again but quietly before letting the jet go from her tail and flying around the area they were in. She swerved around all of the birds and around the plane.

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><p>"She's pretty graceful for having such a large body isn't she?" Yanagi questioned as he looked at her.<p>

"She is. Graceful indeed," Marui said popping another bubble.

"I didn't know that this is what I would see if I came along," Yukimura commented as he stared in wonder at the dragon girl.

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><p>'<strong>You want to scare them?<strong>' Rose asked Ryoma suddenly.

'**How do you mean?**'

'**How about…**' She then explained her plan to Ryoma.

'**Hmm…that would give them a scare…let's do it.**'

'**Glad to hear it!**' she replied before a light covered the both of them.

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><p>"What is going on now?" Yukimura asked as he saw the light.<p>

"Are they thinking what I think they are thinking?" Niou questioned learning closer to the window.

"Yes they are considering…"

"What the heck?" Yukimura yelled once he saw the light shatter to reveal Ryoma's and Rose's human forms.

"What are they thinking?" a bunch of them yelled as they saw the two start falling. They only started to calm down when they saw Rose twist in mid-air while swing her arms out releasing a bunch of wind from the area around her.

All of a sudden, the two stopped in mid-air before floating closer to the airplane and waving at the people inside.

"How are those two even breathing?"

As if they knew what the question was, Ryoma pointed to Rose as she pointed at herself with one palm facing up to show an orb made of wind.

"That's right. Wind is her element as well as water. Of course she would be able to make sure that the two could breathe…"

Rose chuckled before floating away from the jet and continuing to fly forward along with Ryoma.

* * *

><p>The entire group continued to fly like this for hours until they finally reached the beach house that belonged to Atobe.<p>

Ryoma and Rose watched the jet land first so that they would not get caught by the air draft that came with the landing. As soon as they saw the jet finish landing and everyone was making their way off the jet, the two flew over and touched the ground.

As soon as the two touched the ground, the wind around the both of them dispersed before Rose started to slump forward only to be caught by Ryoma.

"Are you alright Ro?" he asked as the others made their way to the two partners.

"I'll be fine Ryo. I'm just a bit tired now…"

"Maybe you should have just stayed in your dragon form. It wouldn't have taken as much energy or magic than what just happened."

"I will be fine in a day or so. Don't worry about it Ryo. Now then," she turned to the rest of the group, "Let's have some fun neh~?"


	22. She's Childish?

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have a few questions for all the readers of this story. Am I doing a good job with the rewrite? It's already been around 5 or so chapters and yet no new reviews. Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a good job? How am I doing with the rewrite. With no one reviewing, it's hard for me to know whether I'm making the story better or making it worse. If I don't get that many reviews with the next few chapters, I'll move onto the other stories I am writing and just let this one go until I get more reviews telling me whether I'm doing good or bad because I'm not publishing something that is bad.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>She's Childish?<strong>

"Come on Ryoma, why aren't you playing in the water with the others?" Rose asked as she lay down on her stomach on the beach towel underneath an umbrella.

After everyone had landed at the beach house – more like mansion in some opinions but what do you expect? It's Atobe for crying out loud – everyone had gotten their room assignments.

Everyone was paired up together and luckily, they were all within their own team because if people from other teams were paired up with the other teams…I don't even wanna think about all of the mayhem right now. Moving on~

After everyone got settled in their rooms, they all went out onto the beach to play around.

Some were playing beach volleyball, some were splashing water, some were playing with water guns, some were running away from Inui's danger-I mean _healthy_ drinks…okay who am I kidding? They are dangerous I say! Dangerous!

There were only two people that were relaxing under the shade of an umbrella on two towels in the sand.

"This entire trip was meant for you," Ryoma responded as he shifted over onto his side to look at Rose's serene face.

"Me?" Rose asked in a questioning voice.

"Yeah you. The others want to show you how fun a vacation can be considering that you have never been on one considering what you have told them," Ryoma explained. Thinking back to earlier, he said once more, "You should have just stayed in your dragon form instead of transforming back into a human and using your air element magic. If you had just glided along you would be fine right now."

"I told you that I will be fine in a day or so. It's not a big deal. I'm just tired. I just need to rest more Ryo," Rose said back as she opened her eyes to look at Ryoma with a caring look in them. "Go on and hang out with the others. After all you were the one to help Seigaku win the chance to go onto the next tournament in first place," she reasoned.

Ryoma smirked before sitting up on his towel and saying, "Che, whatever you say Rose."

Rose smiled at him before saying, "Now go already before I get irritated," she finished with a small giggle as she turned onto her back.

"If you insist so much, I'll play beach volleyball with senpai-tachi," Ryoma said standing up and starting to walk.

"Have fun," Rose called out with her hand waving in the air before letting it drop back down to her stomach.

Rose took a deep breath before closing her eyes once more and taking the time to think as she relaxed for the day.

'_This has been a very fun journey for me okaa-san…now I know what you mean when you said that having a human partner means everything to us…I just wish you were still here in order to see my partner…after all you only heard of how wonderful it was from otou-san and my grandparents. It's fun making him happy…his expression was so peaceful during the gliding as we went through along with the jet…I wish you could have seen it but who knows? Maybe you are watching at this very moment…'_

Rose opened her eyes just a quick moment to look at the clear skies. She focused her eyes on the slight air movements that signaled which direction the wind was flowing in.

'_Is this what friendship feels like okaa-san? I never had any friends as I was too busy training to become strong for my partner. Even though the elders told us not to expect our partners as we were defending both ourselves and our would-be partners from the hunters, I could not help but train for my own. I'm glad that I did because now I can protect him. It's a bit hard to make any friends, but I'm learning. I'm glad that Ryoma is my human partner. He is pretty friendly once people get to know him well enough…sure he is arrogant and introverted, but that's what makes him Ryoma. I hope I get to spend more time with him,'_ she finished thinking with a smile on her face as she thought back to all the times they spent together. "If only it were possible," she whispered sadly to herself as she sat up on her towel.

Sitting up, she noticed that everyone was playing volleyball…well...not the actual game but something like it.

They were each bumping the ball up into the air toward each other and tried to make sure that the ball would not touch the ground.

She smiled as she looked at them because every once in a while, someone would miss and either the ball would hit the ground or it would hit them. She found it funny when it accidently hit them because of their expressions afterward. Who knew such a pained expression would look as hilarious as it did?

Standing up from her towel, she dusted herself of the sand on her and started walking toward the changing rooms.

* * *

><p>"Neh, where did Rose-chan go?" Eiji questioned setting the ball to another as he looked over his shoulder to the empty towels.<p>

"She's probably changing into her swimsuit," Ryoma said bumping it at someone.

"What do you think she brought over?" Momo asked as he watched the ball go up high. Jumping into the air, he spiked it down toward the ground which Kaidoh hit back up into the air with his arm stretched out as he dived toward the ball.

"Yeah, what do you think she is wearing?" Sengoku asked looking toward the changing rooms and not paying attention which ended up with the ball smacking into his face causing a fit of laughter out of the entire group except for a few who just decided to chuckle or just shake their heads slightly.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" a voice asked from behind Ryoma startling the lot of them.

Looking behind Ryoma, they could only stare at Rose as she had her hands behind her back and wore the swimsuit she brought along.

Unlike the boys who all brought swimming shorts of all different colors – there was even one with several planets on it – or Ann, who wore a simple two-piece blue bikini, she wore a light blue one-piece. The one-piece wrapped around her chest and upper back but left her middle back and sides bare before wrapping around the lower part of her body and went down to her mid-thigh. The suit left her shoulders bare and had a piece of fabric wrapped around her neck in order to keep it up. It wasn't plain either as there was a large dark blue butterfly pattern where her chest was with several white flower patterns on the fabric around her neck and lower body.

The group also couldn't help but notice that the girl had tied her hair up with a dark blue ribbon that went down to her shoulders even after being tied in a bow.

"Mind if I play?" she said with a sweet smile on her face as she stared at them with blinking eyes.

"Fine with us," several of them answered before going back to the game and spreading out just a bit to have room for Rose to join.

"You can start off first Rose-chan-desu," Dan said tossing her the volleyball.

"Thank you very much," she said catching it from the air. Throwing it up into the air lightly, she bumped it toward another player before giving off a small smirk.

Only a few people saw her smirk and made the decision to watch out for anything.

As soon as the ball was bumped back to her, she noticed that it was a bit too high for her to reach normally. Smiling, she stepped back a few steps before jumping up with her arm bent over her shoulder. Mentally smirking, she mouthed just one word before spiking it toward another player.

"I got it!" Kamio stated before rushing up to the ball and diving to hit it with one arm.

Rose just smirked as she watched what happened next.

The others could only gape as the ball suddenly spun out of the way and behind Kamio into Shinji's arms before Kamio landed on his face in the sand.

Silence continued to reign until Rose started laughing as she clutched her stomach and bent over a bit.

"That was you?" Ann questioned helping Kamio up from the sand.

"Yup!" Rose yelled through a laughing fit. "That was hilarious! All I did was say 'swerve' and whoosh! There it went," she added while twirling in a pivot on her foot as she made her hand swerve around her.

The others could only stare at her as she said this.

After noticing how silent it was, she noticed all the stares that she was getting except for Ryoma. "What is it?"

"You…are so childish…" Youhei commented before Kouhei added, "Do you usually act like this?"

Ryoma smirked at them all before walking over and wrapping an arm around Rose's shoulders. "This is her actual personality everyone," he commented getting wide eyes from everyone as Rose just gave them another smile.

"What?" several of them yelled. "But she is so serious! How is this her true personality?"

Rose just looked down at the floor before saying, "Actually-"

"Being childish is her true personality," Ryoma interrupted and slightly tightened the hold he had on her showing her that she had support. "The only reason that she is serious all of the time is because of what happened several millennia ago as several of you remember."

"What happened millennia ago?" Saeki asked out of concern for the girl whose eyes were now filled with pain.

Taking another deep breath, Rose repeated what she had said to Ryoma's family.

By the end of the explanation, Ryoma had her in a hug from behind with his arms around her waist and her head leaned back against his shoulder.

The ones that had not been present at the earlier explanation could only stare at her in shock that she had to go through all that when she was just a child. Sure she was around a hundred years old at the time, but since dragons lived very long lives, they could only take the fact that a hundred year old dragon was the dragon equivalent to a human baby or toddler.

"We are so very sorry that THAT happened to you and your species," Wakato said with a serious expression on his face.

"It's fine Wakato-san," she replied looking back at them with a small smile. "It wasn't your fault after all. All I can do now is to make sure that those hunter descendents don't hurt my partner and to reveal that dragons were not the ones at fault."

"Of course your kind isn't the one at fault. They were the ones that were…killed for crying out loud!" Kirihara yelled while clenching his fists. Even though he had heard the story once, he couldn't help but be angry at it again. It wasn't fair that just because the hunters wanted armor and weapons that they slaughtered an entire race…well…nearly an entire race.

"It's going to be up to you to prove that your kind was not at fault. I hope you realize that will take quite a bit of convincing," Tachibana said crossing his arms over his chest.

"I realize that it will take quite a bit of work to make everyone believe it. I mean really, who would believe me if I transformed right in front of them and then just started fighting?" Rose laughed.

"Hey, we believed you didn't we?" Yuuta questioned as he gestured toward everyone around them. "We believed you right away considering we were all there when the fight happened. We saw how you protected Echizen-kun and how you risked your life to protect him. You can't be all bad when you sacrificed yourself just to try and protect him from those hunters."

Rose stared at him thankfully before nodding her head. "Thank you all very much."

Turning to Yukimura, she frowned for just a moment which made the others confused. "May I speak to you privately Yukimura-san?" she asked staring right into his eyes.

"Why?" he questioned back.

"It's nothing really. I just want to ask you something."

"Then why can't you just ask it-"

"About a topic I'm sure you don't want publicized to the others," she interrupted glancing down at his legs before turning her gaze back to his eyes with a knowing look.

Yukimura gulped before saying, "Only if I may bring my team along."

"That's fine by me," she said with a small smile. "I'll have to ask everyone else to stay outside for the meantime alright."

"Even me?" Ryoma questioned letting go of the girl and holding onto her hand.

"I'm sorry Ryoma but there are some things that just cannot be known by the opponents," she said with a smile. "I'm sure you understand the important of secrecy in teams don't you?" She got a nod from Ryoma before she squeezed his hand reassuringly before letting go and gently grabbing Yukimura's hand before walking along with him back to the mansion and into her room followed by the other Rikkaidai regulars.

The group saw her occasionally look behind her to make sure that no one had followed them.

As soon as the coast was clear, she led them into her room and locked the door before turning back to Yukimura saying, "We need to talk…"


	23. I'm Going to Help!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**Okay I have an announcement for this story. The next time that this story will publish a chapter will be on the 26th as tomorrow's and Christmas's updates will be for the two-shot I am coming up with for my Holiday Pillar Pair fanfics. Hopefully, I'll have the rest of the original rewritten by the end of December so I may post them once every weekend. Senior year for high school is a pain in the rear lol...Happy Holidays!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>I'm Going to Help!<strong>

As soon as the coast was clear, she led them into her room and locked the door before turning back to Yukimura saying, "We need to talk…"

"Talk about what?" Yukimura questioned.

Rose sighed before looking at him with a piercing stare and told him, "Sit down on the bed."

Yukimura didn't like the order, but he didn't like the look of her eyes either, so he did as told and sat down on the bed.

Watching his teammates settle themselves on the nearby chairs and couches, she made sure that none of them went to sit on the bed as she would need it.

Sighing, she walked over to Yukimura before placing a hand on his forehead slowly as to not startle him.

"What are you doing?" he asked as his teammates kept staring at her.

She continued to have a far-off look in her eyes before snapping her eyes completely open and pulling away from him with a shocked look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Kirihara asked the girl.

"I knew something was wrong…but that serious?" was her only response.

The others widened their eyes at the implications before staring at her harshly.

"What did you figure out?" Sanada asked coldly as he continued to stare at her.

Rose dropped her hand down to her side and just continued to stare at Yukimura with a nearly sad look in her eyes. Blinking once and switching her gaze down to the floor, she whispered loud enough for them to hear, "Why…why would someone as young as you have to get Guilian-Barre syndrome..."

Yukimura widened his eyes even further before staring at the ground. "How did you figure that out?"

Rose's shoulders slumped forward before she walked over and sat down next to Yukimura. With the both of them sitting down, she was only a bit shorter than him. She reached one arm up and gently laid her hand on his further shoulder before pulling him down so that he lay on his back on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Niou yelled getting up from his chair along with a few others.

"Calm down," Rose commanded with a glare in their direction. "I will not have anyone interrupting," she said in a menacing voice that scared everyone in the room as none of them had heard her use that tone. They were pretty sure that not even Ryoma had heard her talk like that.

Turning her attention back to the boy below her, she placed a hand on top of his chest where his heart was. "I want you to relax as much as you can Yukimura-san. I can't have you stressed out, or it won't be accurate."

"What's this 'it'?" he questioned before relaxing as he was told. He did not want to know what she would do to make him relax forcefully.

"You'll see when I'm done," she said focusing her eyes on the area where her hand was.

A minute later, a blue light shined under her hand and over Yukimura's heart.

Taking a deep breath that was clearly audible, she whispered, "For those who give their life for their team…may their will live forever on."

"I remember that from when Echizen faced Hiyoshi," Marui commented as he stared at her.

In front of everyone, the blue light soaked into Yukimura's body before lighting up his heart.

"What the hell?" Niou yelled as he saw the light. "You better not be hurting him!" he sneered at her only to realize that her eyes were glazed over as she stared at Yukimura.

The blue light continued to shine before it spread. It didn't spread regularly though as they would have thought. They thought it would spread over his entire body. It did something like that but not his entire body. Instead the blue light shined and followed every single nerve in his body all the way from his brain to the tips of his toes.

Rose jerked forward a bit before coughing a bit of blood up into her other hand.

"Are you alright?" Yukimura asked as he was the only one able to see her face.

"I'll be fine. Just relax. This is about you, not me," she said even though it was a bit muffled before she started breathing a little bit heavier.

Rose sat up a bit straighter before slowly lifting herself away from Yukimura and calmly telling him with her hand over her mouth, "Slowly sit up for everyone to see." Turning to the others with a hand still over her mouth, "I need a person who can make an accurate drawing…now!"

Yanagi jumped a bit startled before taking a notebook and pencil from a nearby table.

"Make a sketch of Yukimura's body as well as all those blue lines before they disappear. Make sure to make the darker blue light portions darker than the rest!" she ordered before looking back and pointing a palm at Yukimura's face.

"What the?" he asked seeing the palm suddenly thrust in front of him.

"It'll take him a while to sketch all of the lines, so I need to keep my magic flowing," she said before narrowing her eyes and making a blue light shine from her palm again over Yukimura which strengthened the light and made the darker blue portions of the lines more noticeable. "Hurry up Yanagi-san before they disappear!"

"Alright, alright, I am working on it," he said a bit irritably as he was not used to doing this sort of thing and her yelling was not helping things.

Rose just kept the magic flowing through Yukimura as Yanagi kept drawing.

"Done!" Yanagi said as he placed down the notebook which had a few pages filled with the lines. Some of them had very detailed drawings which meant that some of the pictures were of specific body parts in order to show the details.

Rose sighed in relief before letting her palm down away from Yukimura and stumbling onto the bed in a coughing fit.

Before anyone could even ask whether she was alright, she lifted her clean hand toward them and said, "The drawings please…"

Yagyuu picked them up and handed them to the girl.

"Thank you," she said making sure to keep her bloody hand away from their sight. Sitting up on the bed while covering her mouth again as she coughed, she opened the book and took a look at all of the drawings. "Thank you for making the dark blue lines bolder than the light blue ones. That is very helpful to me and possibly your doctor Yukimura-san."

"What does my doctor have to do with anything?" he asked scooting closer to the girl to check out the drawings.

The girl slowly tore out each drawing and placed them on the bed to where they all pieced together to make a sort of human body.

Pointing to several of the bolded lines, she explained, "These are the nerves you have to check and especially take care of. The ones in your arms and legs are the most effected now because of this portion of your nerve network," she said moving to point at a certain part of his brain.

"And?"

"If you are able to have the surgery in order to get rid of the syndrome, it's only a 50-50 chance of success isn't it?" she said looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"You still haven't answered our earlier question of how you realized I had that syndrome," Yukimura said hoping to bring the subject away from the surgery.

Rose raised a hand up to tell him to stop, before she bent over at the waist and started coughing again. "God dang it!" they heard her mutter under her breath as she continued to cough.

"Are you seriously alright?" Yukimura questioned.

"Is something going on with your magic?" Yagyuu questioned remembering the explanation that Rose gave about her blood. He saw Rose nod before she continued to cough.

"What is that about?" Yukimura questioned as he went over to rub Rose's back to try and comfort her.

"Every time she needs to replenish her magic or heal a lot of wounds, her heart creates new blood for her to replace the old blood," Yanagi explained.

"She told me and a few others later on that if something went wrong with the replacement, she would start coughing up the old blood in order to get rid of it," Jackal added on.

"This must be one of those times where something went wrong," Sanada commented as he stared at the girl who was starting to calm down and breathe evenly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before sitting straight up again. "I'll explain it now. When I touched your forehead, I was able to see a bit of your physique. It also included any injuries or diseases you may have. How do you think I knew about Tezuka-buchou's arm?"

"Something happened to his arm?" Kirihara questioned.

"It's not my place to say. If he wants to reveal it, he will," she said. Turning to them all, she said, "I might be able to help you with the syndrome Yukimura-san."

"How would you be able to help?" Yukimura asked sullenly. "I've tried everything."

"You haven't tried dragons though," Rose said with a small smile on her face.

"What can they do? What can you do to possibly help me?"

Rose frowned at his tone before sighing and reaching a hand over to the back of his head. She suddenly pulled the boy forward to pull him into a hug which startled him. "Don't count yourself out when the game hasn't even started Yukimura-san. I may not be able to help you get rid of it right away…but I am going to help you."

"What can you do is the question I ask you," he said again.

"I'll help you rehabilitate."

"What change will that make?" Yukimura yelled before leaning back out of her embrace and glaring at her. "What change do you think that will make for my chances? You said it yourself that there is only a 50-50 chance that the surgery will be successful!"

Rose just continued to stare at him before closing her eyes and saying, "I'll make it 75-25."

"Exactly what do you think – wait, what?" he asked startled at what she said.

"I'll make it 75-25!" she yelled with determination before opening her eyes and staring at him with fire in her eyes. "I'll make sure that you survive that operation with a good chance of having your syndrome gone!"

"How will that happen? I've tried practically everything, yet it's only given me a 50-50 chance! What do you think you can do that will increase my chances?" Yukimura said with tears in his eyes.

Rose gritted her teeth before raising a hand and slapping Yukimura across the face.

Yukimura widened his eyes in shock before raising a hand up to his face and turning to look at her with confused eyes.

"Will you shut up about that kind of talk?" she yelled at him with tears in her eyes. "What do you think whining will help you with? Do you think you will get better just from saying that you have done everything you can? You need the determination and will to make sure that you get better!"

"What can you-"

"Don't you dare finish that question!" Rose ordered in a yell. "I've had enough…" she cried. "I've had enough…" she said once more as the tears started to fall.

"Rose?"

"I've had enough…I couldn't save my own kind…I couldn't save my family…I couldn't save anyone…" she said ignoring them. She looked up with tears falling down your face. "Don't you realize how lucky you are to have people that are willing to help you recover from this?" she yelled to him. "I have had enough with not being able to help those that I know! I have had enough of standing aside and watching them and leaving them be! I'm not going to stand around and watch as you suffer through this disease with only a 50-50 chance of surviving when I can make it better!"

"What would you gain out of this though? What is there to gain from helping me?"

"I don't want to see someone close to me die again!" she yelled with all of her emotions showing clearly in her voice.

The others could only stare wide-eyed at the girl as they had never heard her yell that loudly before. Looking outside the window, they noticed that the others were still too far away from the mansion to hear her. They were glad for that as they did not want to be on the receiving ends of any glares they might get for making Rose sad.

Yukimura sighed before turning back to Rose and lifting her chin up to stare into her eyes. "What do you suggest I do then?"

Rose sniffled a bit before taking a deep breath. Letting her shoulders slump, she said, "I'm going to visit you once every week until the point where you are going to do the surgery. Sure Ryoma might question me, but if he knows it is something important to me, he will leave me alone about it."

"Then what are you doing to do?"

"The day before I visit you, I am, most likely, going to transform one of my wings to show."

"And that will do what?"

"I believe you guys," she turned her gaze to the other Rikkaidai players, "saw the light fall off my wings and turn into water correct?" When she got nods in return, she smiled before saying, "It is water from the dragon's tree of legend."

"The dragon's tree of legend?"

"It's obviously a tree is the title has anything to say. My kind is the one with that legend as no other species knows of it. The tree's name is a…difficult name to write down in dragon tongue. But you humans would pronounce it as Onaylama. It's a tree where the water that flows from it has healing properties."

"And that will help how again?" Kirihara asked.

"You idiot," Niou said hitting him over the head. "She's saying that if she can gather the water from her wings and get Yukimura to take it, he'll get better eventually."

"That's correct. As long as he can drink the water, he will get better. How much better you will be is a different story as not many humans have tried the water. I'll keep checking your progress and tell you how your chances are with the surgery, but for now let's just go back to the others. I am sure they are worried," she said getting up from the bed and wiping the blood from her face and hands with some water in a nearby bowl.

"Are you sure you can go outside? You are pretty tired from the magic earlier…"

"I'm sure I can go now. I just replenished my magic from the coughing fit you saw earlier, so I am fine to go outside. How tired I am is a whole different story though," she said sheepishly. "I'm pretty tired, but I'm not going to let the others figure that out. Just make sure you keep our secret a secret."

"Promise."

"Good. Let's go then."


	24. Let's Spar!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>Let's Spar!<strong>

"Welcome back Rose," Ryoma said bumping the ball back to another player.

"Hey Ryo," she greeted back with a wave before glancing over to her shoulder to catch Rikkaidai's eyes before she raised one finger to her mouth and winked at them.

They knew what she wanted and nodded in response. She wanted to keep their meeting a secret, and they were not complaining to follow the silent order.

"Ryoma, do you wanna do something more…exciting?" she asked walking over to the boy.

"Like what?"

Rose smirked before leaning toward his ear and whispering the idea to him.

Everyone saw Ryoma smirk. "Sure," they heard him say. He added in a yell, "But I get a head start!" before he swiped one arm at her.

"What the heck?" Kirihara asked as he saw Rose jump away from the swipe a few feet back.

"If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest that you get away from us," Rose said raising her hands above her head before swinging them down and crossing them in front of her as her two fans appeared in front of her.

"She has a point you know," Ryoma said twirling his hands above the air until everyone could see the scythe weapon he had. The only difference between the scythe from before and the scythe now was that the scythe had a white blade with a silver hilt. Every could also see a white swirl pattern on the hilt along with a silver spike pattern on the blade itself.

Rose's fans were different as well now that they all got a good look. Now the fans were a complete white with silver spokes spiking out from the fans. The only major difference they could see were the small sparkles floating off the fans and touching the ground before turning into water.

"We don't need any more injuries that normal during this match," Rose commented with a narrowed stare at her partner before digging her heels into the sand and shooting off at him.

Ryoma smirked before swinging the scythe down in front of him to block the two fans about to slash him.

Giving off a grin, Rose spun on her heel before lashing out with her leg and knocked the scythe to his side before she jumped in the air a bit and turned her body to allow her other leg to swing over and hit him in the side.

Scowling, Ryoma just spun in a pivot before throwing the scythe in front of him to block the leg as she touched the ground again.

"Come on Ryoma, do better than that," he heard her say before he found himself ducking under the fan about to slash his throat.

Bending backward at the waist, Ryoma switched his scythe from being in front of him to behind him with the blade hitting the ground and the hilt pointing toward the sky. From here, he used the scythe to raise his body off the ground as he raised his legs and kicked Rose right in the stomach before finally finishing his flip onto the ground.

Rose was forced back a few feet and clutched her stomach lightly. "Pretty good Ryoma," she commented as she stared at him again. "Come on then. Show me what you got!" she yelled before twirling quickly as she released the fans in two different directions.

Ryoma knew something was up when he knocked the two fans away from him using the scythe. He knew what was happening when he saw Rose still spinning on her feet while having her hands outstretched. He focused on her hands a moment before noticing that they were moving with a coat of wind around them.

"Hey! No fair! You are controlling the wind Rose!" he yelled as he kept slashing the fans away from him.

"It's a fight Ryoma. All is fair," Rose commented with a giggle before she stopped on the spot as the fans returned to her once more.

"Fine then," Ryoma smirked before making his palm face the ground before lifting it above his head.

"Uh oh~," Rose drawled out as she looked at the ground. "Time to scat," she said before jumping into the air as the ground below her split into two.

Ryoma smirked before taking his scythe once more and charging at the girl before jumping into the air with the scythe twirling by his side.

Rose turned around in mid-air to see Ryoma coming at her as he swung the scythe above his head before swinging it down releasing a wave of fire. Smirking at him, Rose snapped one fan close before pointing it at the flames. "You've forgotten where we are!" she yelled as something shot over and took out the flames.

"Right," Ryoma hummed as he looked at the waves splashing against the shoreline.

"Come on Ryoma, let's keep going," Rose said before she took a deep breath and placed two fingers over her lips before breathing out a mist.

The mist covered the entire field before suddenly being blown away.

Ryoma looked shocked as he noticed his wings on his back before turning to see that Rose had transformed her own wings out.

"Let's take it to the skies then," Rose said before flapping her wings once and jumping up to be a meter above the ground.

"Right behind ya," Ryoma said also jumping into the air.

"Come on," Rose said flying up a bit before diving straight at the boy.

Ryoma widened his eyes in shock before swinging the scythe in front of him in a side arc.

Rose stopped just in time to avoid getting slashed and threw her arm in an arc in front of her releasing the spokes from her fans.

Ryoma twirled his scythe once again and knocked all the spokes away from him as they fell toward the ground.

"Show me how well you trained," Rose said with a narrowed stare and a smile on her face as she snapped both of her fans closed and then threw them to the ground to get stuck in the sand. With that done, she took a deep breath before a light covered her and then shattered to reveal a human form with dragon attributes.

"How long have you been working on that?" Ryoma questioned staring at the girl as she gave him a smirk.

Instead of having human ears, there were dragon ears in their place. Her dragon wings were still there but they looked larger than before. Her eyes were replaced with her dragon eyes which were golden with a black slit in the middle like a lizard. Her nails were replaced with claws and talons and there was even a dragon tail appearing from her back.

"I've been working on it for the past few weeks Ryoma," she answered as she stared at her own form. "It turned out better than I expected," she commented.

"Alright then," Ryoma said clenching the scythe in his hands tighter. "We'll just have to see whether that training does any good for you in a fight now shall we?"

"You bet!" Rose said happily before charging right at Ryoma with her claws and talons bared.

Ryoma turned in the air and swung the scythe around his around as protection and an offense which successfully worked.

Rose could only scowl as her wings were slashed when she was trying to stop her charge. "Too fast," she commented as she knew that if she had just gone a tad bit slower, she might have been able to avoid Ryoma's attack…hopefully…

"Practice more Rose," Ryoma commented stopping his scythe and looking at her wings and then her eyes. "We have enough time."

"Alright then," Rose said with a shrug of her shoulders before she charged yet again.

Ryoma took the initiative and swung his scythe behind him before slashing it forward and then swinging it around him to throw it in front of him again in a wide arc.

Rose once again gritted her teeth as she flew a little bit too fast. "How many times will I need to get cut just to figure out what speed I can go in order to stop on the spot?" she commented as she gently fingered the new wounds on her arm and leg.

"Sorry Rose," Ryoma said looking a bit apologetic. He knew that she didn't mind that she was getting hurt. They both took injuries as a learning experience. The more injuries they took now during training, the more they learned to avoid getting injuries during any fights against the actual enemies. Although they knew that, they were pretty sure that the others on the ground were getting freaked out…

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><p>"Poor Rose-chan!" Eiji yelled seeing her get hurt over and over again because of her charging at Ryoma and him doing something to block it.<p>

"Calm down Eiji!" Oishi yelled trying to get his partner to calm down and stop yelling.

"Why do you think he keeps hurting her?" Yanagi asked the group as he stared up at the sky battle.

"It's most likely to learn something. Rose is impulsive at times from what I've seen, but not stupid," Sanada said crossing his arms over his chest.

"That brat is trying to learn how fast she can freaking fly," Akutsu said startling the group.

"What?" Kawamura asked his childhood friend.

"You heard me. That brat is trying to know how fast she can freaking fly," he answered back.

"Why would she need to know that? She's training against Ryoma for crying out loud," Yuuta said trying to see the reason why she would keep getting hurt just for that.

"Yuuta, you have to pay more attention to the fight than just the encounters when they hit each other," Mizuki commented with a calculating eye as he stared at the battle. "If you noticed from earlier, you would see that her speed has dramatically decreased from when she first charged at Echizen-kun."

"It has?" Gakuto said taking a closer look. "Hey! She is slowing down!"

"She is most likely doing that because that is a new form of hers," Inui said as he continued to watch.

"How do you know that?" Saeki asked the data player.

"The two are talking to each other during the battle. I saw them mouth to each other that this was a new form that Rose has been working on for the past few weeks. It seems new, so they are now practicing with it," he answered back before flinching when Rose got slashed on her back from going too fast and speeding right past Ryoma.

"I see…but still she is getting hurt an awful lot," Choutarou commented wincing as he saw Rose get slashed on her arms this time.

* * *

><p>"Ouch this is starting to hurt," Rose commented as she took in all the injuries to herself. "A slash across the back, a few slashes on the wings, arms, legs, stomach, and some scratches to my hands and feet…"<p>

"Sorry Rose," Ryoma said apologizing once again. "We can stop for now if you'd like."

"Not until I get this speed down!" she yelled back at him. "I have to figure out how fast I can go with this form or else I might make a mistake in the real battle and leave you alone!"

"I know that you want to protect me, but aren't you getting a little too hurt for a training battle."

"I told you I am fine, now let's go," she said about to charge once again. She wasn't going to tell Ryoma, but she knew that her wings were about to give out. They were just too injured, and she was just too tired. Her magic wasn't the problem, but with the flying using her air magic and then using her magic to check over Yukimura, she was just plain tired whether she had magic to spare or not.

"Alright then," Ryoma said in one final charge at Rose. He was about to swing the scythe down over her head until he noticed that she wasn't there. Looking around, he noticed that the girl was right behind him and suddenly lashed out her arm.

Turning his scythe, he was able to try to block her with the butt of his weapon only to see that she stopped and swerved around it before she went up and grabbed his throat. "Checkmate," he heard her say with a smile on her face.

"Looks like you finall-Rose!" he yelled once he saw her wings retract and she started to fall toward the ground.

That would not end well as they had been so involved with the fight that they didn't realize they flew over two miles into the air.

"Rose!" he yelled before diving downward hoping to catch her.

* * *

><p>"She's falling!" Eiji yelled in fright.<p>

"We can see that you idiot!" Gakuto yelled back at him before rushing over to where she was going to fall on the sand.

"What are you doing?" Oshitari asked also running after him.

"If Ryoma can't catch her, I'm hoping we will!" he yelled back as he noticed that he was being followed by several others.

"Good idea Gakuto," Shishido said as he ran up next to him. "I'm sure that Kawamura, Kabaji, Akutsu, Sanada, and the others will be a big help to catch her."

"Let's hope so!" Eiji yelled as he saw her falling closer to the ground with Ryoma diving right behind her.

* * *

><p>"Rose!" Ryoma yelled once again as they were now only a few meters above the ground. "Just fly a bit faster. Just a bit faster," he muttered to himself as he forced his wings to tuck in more to allow himself to dive faster toward the girl.<p>

Reaching one arm out, they were only about one or two meters above the ground now. Stretching his arm out, he kept reaching for her before stretching his arm one final time and finally grabbing the girl's hand as she was falling headfirst.

What he didn't count on was that he was flying so fast, that there was no way he would be able to pull up completely…

That didn't mean that he wouldn't try though as he turned his body around to fall feet first and then spreading his wings and flapping them to try and slow him down.

"Come on," he muttered as he continued to try and slow them down.

He opened one eye just to see they were about to hit the ground until…

"Gotcha!" he heard several people yell before he felt hands on both him and Rose.

Snapping his eyes open, he looked around him and saw that the others had run over and grabbed them both just before they hit the ground.

Sighing in relief, Ryoma couldn't help but say, "Thank you everyone," as they had nearly risked going into a coma from that free-fall.

"We'll have to check on Rose when she wakes up," Oishi said as Ryoma was slowly let down onto the ground with Rose gathered in his arms.

"You've been getting stronger Ryoma," Momo commented with a large smile as he noticed the way that Ryoma was carrying Rose.

He was carrying her with her arms loosely wrapped around his neck and her side against his chest with his arms wrapping around her waist and under her legs.

"Shut up Momo-senpai," he said with a smirk on his face as he took Rose over to the beach towels in order to recover from the fight with the others following behind him.


	25. Storms Are Annoying!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>Storms Are Annoying!<strong>

"Well that was an interesting fight," Ryoma commented after laying Rose down on the towels.

"That was a good battle to watch," Sanada commented with a nod of his head.

"Glad to hear," Ryoma replied with a nod of his own head. "It looks like she is about to turn back," he commented as he stared at Rose's sleeping form.

"Wait! Turn back?" Marui questioned.

"What do you mean by that Echizen-kun?" Yukimura questioned as he also started to stare at Rose.

"When she is extremely tired, she will revert back to her true form of a dragon," Ryoma explained as he noticed a small light slowly spread over Rose's figure. "It happens only once in a while as she never gets too tired and stops what she is doing before it gets to this point. I guess that she wasn't paying attention today or she didn't really care how tired she was getting…"

"Is that so?"

"It's true."

"Why does she transform back into a dragon when she is extremely tired-desu?" Dan questioned leaning over the girl.

"The reason she transforms back into a dragon is because a dragon is her true form. She uses a bit of her magic constantly just to allow herself to remain in her human form. Just watch for yourself."

The light finally finished spreading over Rose's figure before it shattered and revealed her dragon form.

"She is huge!" Kirihara yelled as he noticed that the girl was at least six miles long with a three mile wingspan.

"Is this how big she really is?" Oshitari questioned as he ran his hands along her scales right next to her wings.

"Yeah. All of her forms that you have seen so far are actually smaller versions of herself. She compacted herself so that she would be able to fit any situation…especially fighting within a tennis court…" Ryoma answered walking up to her head and slowly running his hand over her muzzle.

"Her scales are a bit different than I imagined," Jiroh said petting along her scales.

"Oh? What did you think her scales were going to be like?" Ryoma questioned before laying down a towel next to her head and sitting on it to lean against her.

"I thought her scales were going to be more…I don't know…rough maybe?"

"A lot of people think that. They are sharp yes but only when they need to be used in a fight. Otherwise, they are pretty soft to the touch," Ryoma said closing his eyes.

"They are~," Eiji said happily as he pet her scales.

"Everyone just go ahead and sit down somewhere," Ryoma said as he glanced at them all from the corner of his eyes. "She won't mind in the slightest if you lean against her."

"Are you sure?" Gakuto said climbing up onto her back right in between her wings and lying down on his stomach.

"She won't. I'm positive that she won't," Ryoma said with a small smile as he stared at Rose's eyes. "Will you?" he asked startling everyone.

"Nah Ryo. I won't mind in the slightest," Rose said with a tiny blush on her face.

Ryoma smirked before glancing at everyone to see them with confused eyes.

"She likes to have friends near her," Ryoma explained. '**And you like to cuddle,**' he added mentally over to Rose which got a slightly bigger blush on her face.

'**Shush Ryoma. The others will laugh at me if they figure that out,**' she replied with a sheepish smile. "Go ahead and do whatever you guys like," she said aloud to the others before curling her body a bit to be more of a circle surrounding them all.

"Thanks Rose-chan," Eiji yelled before jumping up onto her neck and lying right next to her mane.

The other tennis players found a spot to sit or lay down and did so. Several just stayed on some towels that they had brought out earlier during the sky fight and leaned against Rose's figure while others decided to climb up onto her back and lay down on her scales.

"Are you going to tire yourself out from being in your dragon form Rose-chan?" Oishi asked concerned as he seated himself next to Eiji.

"I'll be fine. This is my true form anyway, so it will not be any trouble to keep myself like this. However, if I compacted myself into a smaller size as I do for the fights within the tennis courts or earlier in the air during the flight here, then it would use some magic to keep my form like that. Just being in my true form will be fine," Rose answered him with a kind smile on her face as she turned her head a bit to look at him.

"That's good to hear," Oishi sighed in relief before lying down on her back and relaxing.

* * *

><p>An hour later found everyone still in their same spots with only a few changing spots.<p>

"Neh Ryoma-kun," Fuji said as he sat down next to Ryoma.

"Yes?"

"How do you feel being partners with a dragon?" he asked the emerald-haired boy.

"It's…different. It's definitely different."

"How does it feel to have the power to pair up with one?" Yukimura asked from above him as he decided to lay at the top part of her neck just above where Ryoma was sitting.

"It's powerful for sure. I have a feeling that we'll only grow stronger with each passing day right Ro?" he asked staring into the girl's slightly open eyes.

"That's correct Ryo. I'm sure that we will grow stronger," she answered calmly as she looked around the area.

"We've been here for an hour already. Should we be heading back in?" Kirihara asked while stretching his arms.

"It will be – never mind…" Rose said as she looked at the sky.

"What's wrong?" Tezuka asked looking in the same direction she was facing.

"Storm clouds…" she said, her eyes narrowing along with Ryoma's.

"Is something the matter you two?" Sanada asked out of concern. He noticed the narrowing eyes and felt that something must be happening for the two to be angry at anything.

"They are a pain in the neck, that's what the matter is," Ryoma answered with a glare toward the sky. "Let's get inside before we get soaked," he said getting up and gathering his towel.

"Is something wrong? We could always just stay outsi-"

"No!" Ryoma and Rose yelled startling the person who was about to suggest staying outside.

"Just get inside everyone," Rose ordered with another glare at the sky before she uncurled herself and spread her wings. "I hope you can run as fast as my slowest flying speed," she commented before floating into the air above everyone.

"Let's get inside before we get rained on!" Ryoma yelled before waving his hand over to the beach house and starting to run and being followed by the others.

Rose took the initiative to fly above them while occasionally checking up at the sky.

They weren't quite fast enough to get to the beach house on time as it started to rain on them. Luckily, the rain wasn't that harsh because Rose's wings made an umbrella-like cover over them as she flew only a meter above them to keep them dry.

* * *

><p>As soon as everyone had reached the overhead of the beach house, they all ran under before seeing Rose suddenly slow down before her form practically shattered revealing Rose running right after them.<p>

"That's cold!" she yelled before Ryoma threw her a dry towel. "Thanks Ryo," she said wrapping it around herself as she went inside.

"Everyone go inside your rooms and get changed into warmer clothes before meeting for dinner," Atobe ordered before snapping his fingers to get the workers in the mansion going to work for cooking their meal.

"Right," several of the players answered happily following the teen's order as they did not want to stay in their swimsuits for the rest of the time during a storm.

* * *

><p>"We're done," Ryoma and Rose both said as they finished dinner before anyone else.<p>

"So soon?" Kawamura asked staring at the both of them as they stood up from their chairs.

"Yes we are," Ryoma answered with a nod of his head. Taking a quick glance at Rose, he turned to Atobe and asked, "Hey Monkey King, where is a large room we can borrow?"

"How large?" he questioned back with a twitch of his eye at the Monkey King name again.

"Large enough for me to probably fit in if I went dragon," Rose said with a smirk. "I still feel tired," she said giving an excuse.

Atobe sighed before saying, "There is a large room in the western sector of the house. It's made to host the indoor pool. Feel free to use it as you please," he finished with a wave of his hand as a dismissal.

"Thanks," Rose said before grabbing Ryoma by the hand and leaving the room.

A few minutes afterward, one player started up a conversation.

"Wasn't that a little weird? Even for Echizen and Rose?" Momo questioned staring at the door they left through.

"Ochibi doesn't finish eating that quickly nya," Eiji commented as he leaned his elbow against the table and put his chin in his hand in confusion.

"Do you think that something could be wrong?" Tezuka asked with a little bit of concern for his freshman players.

"Maybe," Fuji answered as he stopped eating. "I saw something that many might not have noticed."

"And that would be?" Kirihara asked drawling out the question as he was getting a little bit impatient.

"You mean you didn't notice?" Tachibana asked with slightly wide eyes.

"Noticed what?" Kamio asked with a confused look on his face.

Kajimoto sighed before explaining, "When Rose was taking Echizen out of the room, she was limping a bit."

"Do you think she might have gotten that from the battle? She didn't treat herself after all," Youhei asked his brother.

"Maybe," he replied back with a shrug of his shoulders.

"We can all see what the two are up to after we finish eating everyone," Saeki commented before continuing to eat. "It wouldn't do us any good if they saw that we were too overly worried over them."

"And why not?" Gakuto asked this time not getting what he was implying.

"Do you remember the time about the blood?" Saeki asked before getting a nod from the acrobatic. "She didn't want us to worry. She doesn't want any of us to worry about her no matter how serious her problem may be."

"That's true!" Yuuta said nodding his head. "During the fight after Seigaku beat Hyotei, she had gotten hurt by her own attack, yet she insisted that Echizen-kun got treated first before anything!"

"That's true…" the acrobatic said with his head hanging low.

"But that's not fair to her either," Ryou said before finishing his meal.

"Explain your thoughts," Oshitari said with a curious glance in his direction.

"It's not fair to her because we are her friends now aren't we?" he questioned as he stared everyone in the eyes. It took a while, but he got what he expected as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "She's our friend, yet she doesn't want us to worry over her. That's what friends do. If we can't worry over her, then who can? If it becomes too serious without us knowing, how are we supposed to help her if we don't even know what is wrong in the first place?"

"That's a good point…"

With those thoughts said, everyone was left in silence as they were thinking about the girl.

"Is everyone done eating?" Atobe suddenly asked startling the entire group.

Slowly, everyone nodded and watched as he stood from his chair.

"If everyone is done, then Ore-sama shall insist that everyone goes and see Rose and the brat and see what they are up to."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sengoku said with a small smile on his face as he stood up along with everyone else.

"Where is that room you let Echizen and Rose borrow Atobe-san?" Tezuka asked walking up next to him.

"It's in the western sector. Ore-sama shall lead the way," he said before walking faster a bit to be in front of everyone so that they would not get lost.

* * *

><p>Several turns and hallways later found the group in front of a large door.<p>

"This is huge-desu," Dan commented as he stared up at the top of the door and nearly fell over from bending over to see the top.

"Sh!" Yukimura said waving a hand over everyone to be quiet. "I hear something."

They all listened carefully and heard what Yukimura was talking about.

"Ryoma~. This is hurting," they heard Rose whine aloud.

"I know Rose, I know," they heard him reply with a sincere tone which startled them until they realized that when he was around Rose, he would be full of new surprises.

"Is there anything I can do to help you Rose?"

"Not really…I just need…a bit of rest…" they heard her reply with what seemed like labored breaths.

"What are those two talking about?" Hiyoshi commented with a narrowed stare at the door.

"Only one way to find out," Fuji said with a smile before walking up and opening the doors startling the two inside.

"Fuji-senpai!" Rose said with wide eyes as she tried to stand up in her dragon form only to stumble and fall straight into the water.

"Rose!" Ryoma yelled in response before leaning over the side and gently grabbing her mane before pulling her head up above water.

"What happened?" several of the group members yelled before rushing over to the fighting duo.

"She's still injured from our fight earlier and the storm isn't helping," Ryoma commented gently laying Rose's head on top of the tiles outside of the pool and then slowly pushing the rest of her body into the pool water. "Thank god that you have a pool large enough for this Monkey King," he said with a sigh as he noticed that she fit in perfectly.

"Why isn't her blood network healing her? Is something the matter?" Jackal asked with concern for the girl.

"The storm…" was what they all heard Rose whimper under her breath.

"What about it?"

"The storm drains her magic, so even if her blood is constantly replenishing itself, like it is now, it's not doing a dang thing to help her," Ryoma explained before grabbing a wet towel and wading into the pool water to reach the nearest wound.

"Can't you heal her?" Momo asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Idiot peach-head!" Kaidoh said smacking him over the head. "Were you not paying attention? He just said the storm drains her magic, so it must be draining his magic too!"

"Don't yell at me Mamushi!" Momo growled back before they smashed their foreheads together about to start a fight.

Before anyone could even think of breaking the two apart, Ryoma yelled, "Will you two idiots just shut up and help before Rose completely passes out?"

This seemed to shock everyone in the group as they had never heard Ryoma tell any of them to shut up or even call them idiots before.

"He must be really worried about Rose," Yukimura whispered to himself before grabbing a towel and walking into the pool water along with Ryoma. "What can I do to help?"

"Just help clean the wounds that she got from the battle. She forgot to get them treated again," Ryoma said with a roll of his eyes before whispering, "more like didn't bother to get them treated again…stupid girl…"

Yukimura could only give a smile as he knew how much he actually did care for her. Even though he might be insulting her from what it looked like, there was still the hidden worry and care underneath his words that could only be figured out from the look in his eyes as he tended to her.

"Sorry…for all…the trouble…" they could hear Rose whisper as she moved her head slightly on the tiles in pain.

"It's no trouble at all Rose-chan," Fuji said also grabbing a towel along with several others and wading into the pool to help tend to her wounds.

"You don't…need to…do that…you know…" Rose whispered to them all as she glanced at them from the corners of her eyes.

"We want to though," Choutarou said with a calm smile on his face. "It's the least we can do for everything you have done in order to make sure that we remained safe."

"I haven't…done anything…though…"

"On the contrary," Yagyuu said pushing his glasses up a bit further on his face. "You have done quite a lot to help."

"Like…what…"

"You made sure that no weapons made it outside the battle field when you fought the hunters," Yanagi commented opening his notebook. "It must have been quite a bit of trouble to make sure that any of their ranged weapons did not get deflected back at any of us. There is also the fact that you are helping my team as well as your own with something."

"But that's just-"

"It's not normal sportsmanship. What you have done exceeds it all from fighting all the way to playing and then all the way to helping others out even when they have nothing to do with you," Mizuki answered knowing what the girl was about to say.

Rose's eyes drooped in concern before she took a deep breath and lifted her wings out of the water.

"What do you think you are doing?" Ryoma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You…were tending my wounds correct?" she asked looking to the other side of the room as she made her wings closer to the people still out of the water. "I felt it would be easier to take care of them outside of the pool instead…"

Several players could only smile before they called for someone to bring several first aid kits.

When they came, they had to pick them up near the door so that no other workers in the mansion would come in and see what they were doing. They would not let out Rose's secret unless she wanted them to.

* * *

><p>"Sorry I'm such a bother," Rose said with a sad smile as they all had finished tending to her wounds. She was still in her dragon form and floating on top of the water now that all of her wounds were patched up. Her wings were stretched across the entire pool and went from one side of the room to the other once she had them fully stretched out.<p>

"For the last time Rose, it is completely fine," Ryoma commented as he sat on top of her neck and lay against the back of her head.

"If you say so," Rose said with a sigh before taking a look out the window. "About time," she commented which got everyone to look and see what she was talking about.

"The storm finally stopped," Shou commented before getting out of the water and onto the tiles again.

"We are all going to need to wash up again," Kouhei said looking at their clothes.

"Sorry~," Rose said before her dragon form shattered to reveal her human form again in her normal Seigaku regular jersey clothes.

"Will you need another patching again for your wounds?" Atobe asked getting out of the water along with everyone else.

"It will be fine, the bandages changed sizes to fit my human form now," she said lifting her shirt up just a bit to show the bandages wrapped around her waist. "Thank you all for everything."

"Thanks Atobe," Ryoma said putting his hands in his pockets.

"For what?" Atobe asked shocked that Ryoma used his family name instead of the dreaded nickname.

"For all the help with Ro," he said with a small smile on his face.

"Let's all get washed up again and get some sleep then," Tezuka said making his way out of the large pool room and back to his assigned room.

* * *

><p>Once the two were in their room, Rose just sat next to Ryoma on his bed and looked out the window with him.<p>

"Looks like the storm was a good thing for us after all," she commented with a small smile on her face as she looked out the window and at the beach.

"What makes you say that?" Ryoma questioned before raising one hand up to ruffle her hair lightly.

"Because it made us closer to the others," she answered before standing up from the bed and turning to face him. "Face it…we are a lot closer to the regulars now than we were before."

"That's true…it might just be because we are letting them see much more of our strengths and weaknesses," Ryoma said trying to think up other reasons. He didn't want to get his or Rose's hopes up for nothing after all. He didn't want Rose to suffer through betrayal ever again.

"If they were getting closer to us just because of that reason, I'm sure that they would be sick of themselves," Rose commented back reassuring him that his senpais were nothing like that. "They did help me with my wounds even though I said it was fine after all."

"That would be normal of anyone Rose," Ryoma said with a smirk on his face.

"Not unless people see me as a freak," she said looking to the side with a small frown on her face.

Ryoma sighed once again before reaching up and gently laying his hand on the back of her neck. Making a quick tug, he was able to get Rose to lay down on the bed right next to where he was sitting.

"You worry too much," he said laying down next to her and wrapping his arms around the girl. "Stop worrying and everything will be fine. They are not as superficial as we both seem to think."

Rose sighed as well before nodding her head and relaxing as Ryoma pulled the covers up over them. She giggled before saying, "It is funny...I used to tuck you in after training and now it's the other way around."

Ryoma just smirked at her slightly before saying, "Just shut up and go to sleep will you. You need it after what happened today."

"Alright Ryo. Good night and sweet dreams," she said before closing her eyes and relaxing. As soon as she realized that Ryoma was asleep before her, she said, "Thank you for everything Ryoma…"


	26. Never a dull Moment

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>Never a dull Moment<strong>

"I hope you don't mind in the slightest," Rose said with a smile as she stood by the door to the mansion.

"Why do you want to go into the forest anyway Rose-chan?" Ann asked the girl as she was about to finish her breakfast.

"I just want to go hiking in the mountains," Rose said once again hoping for them to get the idea that she just wanted to get out of the big mansion they were in currently.

"But aren't you scared of all the wild animals there? Like the mountain lions, the snakes, the bears, and all those sorts of things?" Eiji asked biting on his fingers at the thought of all those wild animals just waiting in the mountains for them.

"I would have thought that you would have liked to see the lions you cat-fanatic," Rose snickered causing Eiji to pout at her comeback.

"It'll only be for a little while. I just want to be by myself for a bit. I'll be fine. We are still on vacation for another week or so, and I want to go to the mountains. I'm starting to get sick of being at the beach for the last couple of days," she said with her own form of a pout with her head tilted to the side.

The others tensed up slightly before looking away from the girl. They knew that if they even took just one glance at the girl, she would get her way from the look in her eyes. '_Why does she keep doing this?'_ several of them thought while trying not to even take a glance at the girl.

Rose just mentally giggled as she realized that they were trying not to look at her. With Ryoma's help for the past few weeks, she had nearly perfected what the humans called a…'puppy pout'? She didn't know why they called it that, but all she cared about at the moment was that it worked out for her which it normally did.

Giggling to herself, she looked around and noticed that practically everyone in the room was facing away from her…except for one…

She saw him chuckling lightly before inclining his head at the door and raising a finger up to his mouth to signal her to be quiet as she left.

Nodding her head slightly, she mouthed a 'thank you' to the boy before opening and closing the door as quietly as she could before rushing off toward the mountains. "I have to remind myself to thank Fuji-senpai later," she said to herself as she continued running up to the mountain sides.

* * *

><p>"Hey, where did Rose-chan go?" Gakuto asked looking around the room. He just noticed along with everyone else that Rose was now gone from the room completely.<p>

"She went to the mountains," Fuji replied with a smile on his face.

"What?" Kamio said with wide eyes. "And you let her?"

"She was going to go anyway whether we said 'yes' or 'no'," Fuji reasoned. He knew her personality a bit better now, and when she wanted something, she was going to get it…

"Figures," Ryoma commented while leaning back in his chair.

"You aren't going to do anything?" Tachibana questioned staring at the boy.

"If she wants something, she'll get it. If she wants to be left alone, I can follow just this once."

"You mean you wouldn't follow her wish to be alone any other time?" Oshitari questioned this time noticing his last sentence.

"If she was injured, I would be following her, but now she is fine from her injuries yesterday thanks to the storm disappearing. Her magic is up and running and her wounds are healing so there is not much to worry about," he answered calmly. Opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling, he added, "It's not like she can't defend herself anyway. She's got her hybrid transformation pretty well now thanks to our fight…well…the speed down anyway."

"Shouldn't you be worried then?"

"Nah, she'll be fine. She has her fans too so it won't be a problem," he replied back calmly before closing his eyes to relax.

"So what do we do until she gets back?" Oishi questioned.

Ryoma smirked before saying, "I have one idea but it will probably take the whole day to prepare."

"And that would be?" Atobe drawled out the question curious as to what the boy was planning.

Ryoma's smirk grew wider before he explained to them what was going on.

When they finally understood what he was talking about, they smiled to each other excited before starting to prepare for the next day. It was going to be a fun day tomorrow, and they all knew it.

* * *

><p>Looking out over the top of the mountain, Rose noticed that it had been an hour or two since she had left. Taking a deep breath of fresh mountain air, she commented, "So glad that I climbed mountains when I was a tiny dragon." Looking out toward the mansion, she noticed that most of the regulars were outside doing something. What they were doing was her question as she couldn't see them all too clearly from her position.<p>

"Hmm," she said placing her chin in her hand. "I wonder what they would all do if I just made it snow on them right about now. Especially considering that this is a beach which is normally supposed to be warm," she chuckled at the end. "I bet they would freak out. I would love to see that," she commented to herself before nodding her head slightly.

"I wonder whether this will work," she said before taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she whispered before she said, "Transform into the winged horse of the legends of heaven. Hide those wings from the rest of the world and show the reality within the legend."

A gust of wind blew around her before shining a bright white and then shattering.

Taking a look at herself, she gasped in surprise before saying, "That worked better than I hoped it would…I wonder what Ryoma will say to this!"

With a happy thought in her mind, she ran down the mountainside back to the base of the mountain and stopped. Taking another deep breath, she opened her mouth and blew a mist up into the air right up into the sky. "My work is now done," she said happily with a smile on her face as she noticed snow clouds beginning to form in the sky right over the beach area where the others were. "Now let's go see how they react!" she yelled happily before rushing over to the area and hiding in the bushes to see.

* * *

><p>"It's snowing! It's snowing!" Eiji yelled as he jumped around trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.<p>

The others were surprised at the sudden snow…especially considering it was a beach.

"The forecast didn't mention any abnormal snowing," Tezuka commented staring at the snow clouds that seemed to form out of nowhere.

Before anyone could question the weather any further, a whinny was heard from the bushes.

Turning toward the source of the whinny, they turned to see a white horse with brown patches and a light brown mane and tail. The horse was about fifteen hands tall which was about five feet high with its mane reaching to its chest, the eyes a light blue in color.

The horse slowly walked up to them and watched as they slowly put their hands in front of her eyes to avoid startling her before they moved to pet her neck and run their hands through her mane.

"She's friendly," Eiji said happily as the horse didn't back up and even walked over to a few of the regulars and nudged them in the back.

"Very friendly considering how she is nudging practically everyone," Ryoma said bluntly observing the horse walk around and nudge everyone in the back at least once.

What happened next scared everyone because the horse had just stepped back a few steps before charging right at Kirihara.

"Kirihara!" several of the Rikkaidai players yelled as the horse hit its head into his back sending him flying.

"Never mind, that horse is violent!" Eiji yelled before running out of the way of the charging horse.

"Kirihara!" Jackal yelled seeing the boy flailing in the air as he started to fall.

Before anyone could even move from their spots, they saw the horse turn quickly before jumping into the air right below him and catching him on its back before he hit the ground.

Kirihara could only cling onto the horse's mane in fear as he had never been through that before. Getting knocked into the air by a horse and then getting caught by the horse was pretty scary now that I think about it…

Kirihara, along with several others, was just happy that the horse had caught him in time before he hit the ground and risked an injury to something. Loosening his grip on the horse's mane, he sat up on the horse before lightly kicking its side to get it to trot.

"It seems tame too," Oshitari commented as he stared at the now trotting horse as it went around the group in a large circle.

"It is strange how that horse appeared soon after the snow appeared," Sanada commented as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's a good point," Inui commented pulling out his notebook and taking a few notes on the horse.

"Something about that horse seems familiar though," Atobe commented with his chin in his hand. "There should be no horses around here, so why is there one here of all places?"

"She is also way too friendly to be a wild horse," Niou commented as he stared at the horse with a calm stare.

"Nya, who cares? We got a new friend now, ain't that right?" Eiji asked walking over to the horse and petting it on the neck.

"That's a mare now that I look at it," Ryoma commented as he stared at the horse one more time. "Yup, it's a mare," he concluded with a nod of his head.

For the rest of the day, they decided to take the mare around the beach as they were a little bored without Rose there with them. Usually the girl would have a few ideas or two to spout out for them to use to not let themselves get bored.

At the end of the day, the others had created a small fire outside on the beach shore away from the waves and sat around it.

"Where do you think Rose could be?" Kirihara questioned after noticing that the girl had not been seen anyway ever since breakfast that morning when she was able to sneak away to the mountains.

"She's probably still fine," Ryoma said before getting another marshmallow onto a stick and setting it near the fire to cook.

"But seriously, she's been gone the entire day. You are not at all worried about your own partner?" Kirihara asked right back becoming a little mad that Ryoma wasn't even a little bit worried from what he could tell.

The horse whinnied before getting up onto its legs and trotting around a bit as if searching around for something before trotting back past the group to the other side.

"Is something wrong with her?" Eiji asked as he noticed her do the same thing in each direction.

"I don't know whether something is wrong with her or not. I'm not the horse's owner after all," Ryoma said glancing over at the horse as it finally finished what it was doing and trotted back to them before stopping right behind someone.

The mare did something surprising as it suddenly reared up on her two hind legs and suddenly yelled, "Boo!"

"Ah!" several of the regulars screamed before falling onto the sand and backing away from the horse.

They could hear the horse laughing as it leaned forward and then landed onto all four of her legs before running around them all.

"Wait a minute…that laughter sounds familiar," Yukimura said after listening to the mare laugh a little more. "Rose?" he questioned getting odd looks from the people around him.

The mare suddenly jumped right into the air and looked to crash right into Yukimura scaring everyone in the group except for Yukimura for some odd reason.

Before everyone's eyes, they saw the horse's figure get surrounded by gusts of wind before her figure shattered to reveal a girl who pounced on Yukimura for a hug while yelling, "Bingo Yukimura-senpai!"

"Rose!" several others yelled seeing the girl hug Yukimura around the shoulders. "But! How? When? Where? What? Why? What the heck just happened?" everyone yelled in fragments still in shock at what they just saw.

Rose giggled at them before looking toward Ryoma and seeing him shake his head slightly.

"No wonder you seemed so familiar," he said walking up to her and ruffling her hair lightly. "I forgot that you have been practicing on turning into other animals of legend. I see that you have worked on the winged horse of legend haven't you?"

"Yup! The Pegasus transformation is a success Ryo," she said happily before adding, "and so does the cloaking of the wings!"

Turning to the others in the group, she smiled at them before saying, "You should have seen your faces everyone. You guys looked hilarious. I want to scare you guys again sometime," she finished before starting to laugh as she noticed the small red on their faces.

The regulars looked down in embarrassment at being surprised, shocked, and scared so easily. Taking notice of another chuckle, they looked up to see that Ryoma was laughing even though he was one of the ones that were scared earlier when the horse jumped at Yukimura.

As they looked at Rose and Ryoma laugh at what had happened, they all smiled, even if it was small, and started laughing or chuckling as well.

"With Rose around, it is never a boring moment," Yukimura commented with a small shake of his head.


	27. So We Heard It's Your Day

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>So We Heard It's Your Day<strong>

"Why do I have a feeling that something is going to happen today?" Rose yawned as she stretched her arms above her head as she sat up in her bed. Looking around the room with sleepy eyes, she noticed that Ryoma was not is in his bed or in the room for that matter.

Getting up and walking over to the water bowl to splash cold water on her face, she noticed a note on the table.

Picking it up, she read it aloud. "I'm going to be gone with the other regulars in the forest. Feel free to stay at the mansion and relax or go to the beach. We will all be back around noon for lunch today in the dining hall. See you later, your partner, Ryoma."

"We'll isn't that great?" Rose questioned while putting the note down with a sigh. "I've got four hours to spend while the others are out exploring. No fair," she commented. "What do they expect me to do while I wait to meet them anyway?"

Sighing, the girl decided to go to the beach after changing into her swimsuit.

"Might as well explore a bit while I wait," she said with a smile. Climbing up the side of a large rock, she turned back to the sea and took a deep breath before jumping and diving right into the ocean water. '_Well this sure looks interesting,'_ she commented as she continued swimming through the water using the water around her to propel her forward. She went deeper and deeper into the water before realizing that it was too dark to see anything.

Deciding to get back up before she got lost, she started swimming toward the surface. '_If only me or Ryoma had a light element…it would be fine traveling underwater like this if we did…_' Then she remembered what would happen if one of them did have the light element. '_However…if one of us owns the light element…then the other owns the dark element…I don't want to know who is who right now. I'll have to figure out some way to get some light down here though…'_

Popping out of the water, she looked toward the sky before noticing that she still had about two hours left until lunch break when everyone would be back.

"I should probably try and figure out a way to get light down into the bottom of the sea…" she said to herself as she switched her sight from the sky above her and the water below her. She hummed as she thought about how she could even possibly get light to the bottom of the ocean without revealing who had the light and dark element between the two of them, her and her partner anyway…

"Maybe…" she thought aloud as she took a look at her hand and noticed the water falling down it before a cold wind blew past freezing some of the water. "That's it!" she yelled happily as she thought of something. Bringing her hands up into the air above her, she tried her idea only to smile as it seemed to work. "I'll have to get Ryoma to join in later," she said to herself before noticing the time.

"Oh man! I'm going to be late for lunch!" she yelled before using the water to propel her back to shore as well as using some clean water to wash the sand off of her.

Using the wind to push her up into her room in the mansion, she quickly changed into her normal tennis clothes before raking her hands through her hair to get out any knots before using a brush as she walked toward the dining hall.

After putting the brush on a nearby table, she walked into the dining hall and noticed that the entire room was dark.

Looking around curiously, she called out, "Hello?" before she jumped startled as she heard many voices respond, "Surprise!" as the lights suddenly turned on in the room.

All she could do was blink with a surprised look on her face as she saw everyone come out of their hiding places and out into the room where she could see them. "What are you guys doing?" she questioned tilting her head to the side in confusion.

She watched as Ryoma came up to her holding something behind his back.

"Happy Birthday Rose!" he said as he pulled out the object from behind him and revealed it to be a bouquet of several types of flowers with several shades including blue, purple, white, and even red ones.

"But…how?" she questioned taking the bouquet into her hands as she stared at them all. "I didn't tell anyone that it was my birthday today…"

"It was one of the facts I received when we formed our pact," Ryoma explained which got a nod from his partner in understanding.

After Ryoma stepped away, Rose noticed that everyone were in either partners or groups while holding something. She watched as they walked up to her in those same groups and partners.

Yukimura smiled as he said, "We could only get this last minute. If you had told us earlier that it was your birthday today, I'm sure everyone would have been able to get something for you." He motioned for Sanada, Yanagi, and Yagyuu to come up with a large bag and said, "This is from the four of us. We got these pictures from other people."

Rose took a look in the bag and looked curious as she took out a book. Opening it, she widened her eyes slightly before turning the pages. On each and every page there was a picture of the people involved in the party today.

The next group to come up was Kirihara, Niou, Marui, and Jackal. "Sorry, but this is all we could get you last minute," Marui said with a sheepish smile as he set down a small box in her hands.

Taking off the ribbon and removing the lid, she nearly squealed at what she saw in the box. There were two pairs of earrings; one pair was in the shape of her fans that she used in battle while the other was a pair of dangling earrings with the four main elements as the trinkets.

She watched as Atobe snapped his fingers before Kabaji, Oshitari, and Jirou helped to bring out a bow that was nearly as tall as Rose but very thin.

Curious at what could be in the box, she removed the lid of it when they placed it on the table and gasped at what she saw. "This is gorgeous," she commented as she took it out of the box for everyone to see. It was a white strapless dress with a silver sash wrapping around the right shoulder all the way down to the left hip before wrapping around the waist. There were several sequins sewed onto the sash every few inches in every direction.

Rose placed it against her figure before wondering something. "How did you get the measurements?" she asked as she noticed that it fit her perfectly when she tried in on in front of them after changing in another room.

Here Ryoma looked a little nervous as he explained, "For some odd reason…I got your sizes too…"

Rose blinked before blushing a bit as well and laughing it off saying, "It's fine Ryo."

"We got this for you Rose," Gakuto said as Shishido, Choutarou, and Hiyoshi came up to her and handed her a bag with small blushes on their faces when she took it.

Looking inside, she widened her eyes in surprise before showing the contents on the table. There was a book containing scrapbook material as well as a large book that was completely empty. "How am I going to fill this up?" she wondered as she looked at all the empty pages.

"Our gift could help with that," Fuji said walking up along with Tezuka, Kawamura, and Inui. "We were all able to pitch it to help get it," he said placing a box in her hand.

Opening it, she gasped as she took out a camera. "When did you-"

"It's even able to take pictures underwater," Inui interrupted her. "That way you can take pictures even in the sea."

"We got you this Rose-chan," Eiji yelled happily as he gestured to Oishi, Momo, and Kaidoh as he handed Rose an oddly wrapped gift.

"Hey! A new racket!" she said after unwrapping it. "How did you know my old one was getting old?" she questioned while swinging it a few times to test its weight. It was a light blue racket with a black handle and a white inside rim. All she got from the group of four was either smiles or they looked away at which she chuckled at.

"Rose-chan-desu," Dan said before handing her three bags. "We bought these for you-desu," he said as she took them and looked at what was inside.

"They are adorable," she cooed as she took out three plush pillows. There was an orange fox with a smiling face, another was of a pink dolphin, and the last was of a cute little white horse with brown patches.

"Rose-chan!" she heard eight people call out at once. Turning, she saw Ann, Tachibana, Kamio, Shinji, Youhei, Kouhei, Shou, and Daichi behind her. "Open these next!" several of them said with smiles as they pulled out two boxes and handed them to her.

Shinji was starting to mumble again, "It took a lot of trouble to make all those…maybe it's just her way of getting attention…is her birthday really-"

"Shinji!" Tachibana said before getting an apology from the mumbling boy.

Rose giggled before she opened up the two boxes. Gasping, she said, "These are beautiful!" before taking them out of the boxes. She pulled out several bracelets and two necklaces from the boxes.

"They are friendship bracelets," Ann said before Kouhei added, "and guardian angel necklaces."

"These are wonderful," Rose said with a smile as she put them all on along with a pair of the earrings from earlier and noticed that each one of the bracelets had one of the names of the schools here at the moment.

"We got this for you Rose-chan," Yuuta said handing her a crystal box about the size of a basketball. "Mizuki-san helped us order it for you," he said as she uncovered the lid.

"This is so cool!" she said taking out the object inside. "A jewelry tree!" she said as she noticed the crystal tree with several trinkets already on the tree. It was a tree with the branches curving like little hooks in order to hold the little trinkets.

"Rose-chan!" Aoi said handing Rose a book. "It's a book about mythology."

"We noticed how you and Ryoma were talking about transforming into other mythological creatures and thought that this would help for some ideas," Saeki explained as she ran her hands over the book cover and flipped it open.

"Thank you," she said happily before turning as a fan was snapped right in front of her face.

"You can use these for dancing if you'd like," Hanamura said as Kajimoto, Wakato, and Reiji helped close the fans and hand them over to Rose.

"They are very beautiful," Rose said looking at the white fans with a light blue trim on the edges that flowed with the wind.

"Rose," the girl heard before she turned around to see Ryoma with something behind his back.

"What's up Ryo?" she asked as he walked up to her. '_He gave me a bouquet already so what is he holding now?'_ she questioned as he stood in front of her.

Ryoma just looked at her confused face. '_She must have thought the bouquet was the present,'_ he concluded as she stared at him.

"Happy birthday Rose," he said before handing her a small box.

Rose took it confused before opening it and gasping in surprise. "Ryoma," she whispered as she took the object out of the box.

Inside was a silver dragon pendant with four trinkets handing off the sides, one for each of the four main elements actually, with some writing on the front as well as a semi-visible cracked line on the back.

Taking a look at the writing, Rose read it aloud. "A human's fire and a heaven's dance, both will make this friendship last…"

Ryoma then took the pendant and split it in half where the cracked line was before handing half of the pendant to her and keeping the other half for himself. On her pendant was a fire and earth symbol while there was an air and water symbol on his.

"Thank you so much Ryoma!" Rose yelled before hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you everyone!" she yelled happily before going around and hugging everyone in the room.

People could definitely say that some of them were embarrassed by Rose's actions as they turned away to either hide a blush on their faces or avoid having one turn up.

"Let's take a picture everyone," Rose said taking the camera she got for her birthday and setting it down on the table across from everyone. "Everyone please gather up," she asked happily before setting the timer of the camera and running in front of everyone right next to Ryoma in the middle of the picture. Everyone else didn't even have time to go into their separate schools before the camera flashed.

Rose giggled happily as she got up to check the picture and showed it to everyone. Some were arguing with each other, others were busy rushing to get to their friends in the picture, while others were just staring at the camera calmly or chuckling at the antics of the others.

Several people suggested what to take pictures of, so Rose ended up taking pictures with each of the schools separately with their gifts in her hands. It was a little harder for Seigaku's turn because one of the gifts was the camera itself. They all just decided to use a different camera to take the picture so that they could take a picture of the group with the new camera that they got Rose.

"Why don't we go outside and have some fun until dinner time neh?" Yukimura suggested before getting nods from several others.

"Okay!" several of them yelled before going back into their rooms to change back into their swimsuits and going outside to the beach shore.

"I'm gonna fly!" Rose yelled happily jumping into the air with light surrounding her figure once more before shattering to reveal her dragon form.

Ryoma nudged Fuji lightly before whispering in the taller's ears, "Take a picture of her with her new camera."

"Alright Ryoma-kun," Fuji said with a smile on his face as he quickly went inside, retrieved the camera, came back outside, and snapped a picture of the flying dragon.

Hearing a click, Rose flew back down to the ground only to get surrounded by several of the regulars. Laughing loudly, she curled herself up into a large circle and allowed everyone to lean against her or on her like two days before.

"Take pictures," someone suggested noticing the girl's new camera in Fuji's hand.

Everyone laughed as they passed around the camera and took at least one picture of the entire group from different angles for the girl considering she couldn't at the moment.

"What else do you guys want to do?" she asked looking at them all.

"Tennis!" a majority yelled before the others in the group just looked at them funnily at their suggestion.

Oishi took a look at the tense atmosphere and said, "Or we could just relax and spend the day outside."

"That is fine too," Rose said moving her head to the side a bit to allow Ryoma to be more comfortable against her cheek.

"Happy Birthday Rose," Ryoma whispered once again.

"Thank you very much Ryoma," Rose said back before lightly nuzzling his cheek with her own.

When the time came for cake, there were thirteen candles on it.

"We know you said that you were a few millennia old, but you look more like a thirteen-year old in your human body," Sanada commented as she transformed back into a human and got closer to the cake.

She smiled as she looked at the design. On the cake was a dragon head as well as a human head. She smiled as she noticed that the two were touching foreheads with calm looks on their faces. "That is an amazing design," she commented before blowing out the candles. "Who drew it?"

"I did," Yukimura said happily raising his hand to let her know. "There's something inside as well."

"It's a cake," Rose laughed out. "Of course there is going to be – Oh my goodness! It's ice cream!" she yelled happily as she cut out a piece of the cake. She practically squealed in delight as the others laughed because of her childish antics. She didn't care in the slightest and even laughed along with them.

* * *

><p>After finishing the cake, Rose went ahead inside to work on the scrapbook using the pictures she had gotten from the day alone. The group had gotten plenty for her during the party as well as the time outside.<p>

"Everyone! What do you think so far?" she yelled as she came downstairs with the scrapbook in her arms. Making it to the front of the group, she showed them the cover which also had a space for a picture.

They all smiled when they saw it. It was a picture with everyone together all surrounding Rose's dragon form as she lay in the sandy beach shore. They had timed that picture just to get everyone involved in it instead of letting one person out.

When the girl opened the book, everyone saw all the pictures as she kept turning the pages. There were at least two pictures on each page with several little trinkets attached. On the gift pictures, there were little snips and trinkets attached. They even noticed that on one page was a trinket from the jewelry tree that she had gotten.

"You certainly are fast with that," Fuji commented staring at each picture with a calculating eye as he took pictures himself.

"Yup," she said happily knowing from the look in his eyes that she had his approval for the pictures. "This is the best day ever!"


	28. Don't Let Her Get Bored!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>Don't Let Her Get Bored!<strong>

"Rose-chan can sure be scary when she is bored nya…" Eiji said with obvious fear in his voice as he lay on his bed in the medical ward of the mansion.

"Remind Ore-sama to build some courts around here if Rose ever…and Ore-sama means EVER…comes by again," Atobe said agreeing with a nod of his head.

"Don't let your guard down," Tezuka said sitting in his chair with his arms on the armrests.

"Says another person who got scared," Yukimura pointed out with a chuckle.

"She is just way too scary at times," Momo commented while lying on his stomach with a small wince.

"Do you think that Ryoma will be alright when he talks to her?" Fuji asked lying on his back on the bed.

Ryoma was the only one that wasn't hurt by whatever the group was talking about. Obviously, Rose was the cause if their conversation was anything to talk about.

* * *

><p>"I really have to work on his entire 'I'm bored' thing of mine. It's going to be really troublesome if I don't," Rose commented to herself as she sat down in a nearby patch of forest ground with flowers with her hands behind her back to keep her balanced as she let her legs lie on the grass.<p>

"You got that right Rose," Ryoma replied walking up to her careful not to crush any of the flowers around them. He had decided to go and see what Rose was doing after the day's…accident. The other regulars were resting in the medical ward because of it.

She looked over her shoulder to see him. She had a somewhat guilty look on her face from taking out her boredom on the regulars.

"Hey Ryo. What's up?" she asked as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing much going on really. The others are just discussing what happened today."

"Oh…that…" Rose said with a sheepish look on her face. Scratching her chin lightly, she said, "I went way out of control there."

"You think Ro?" Ryoma asked with a raised eyebrow.

Thinking back to it, Rose remembered the reason why she went out of control with them in the first place.

* * *

><p><strong>~Flashback Start~<strong>

She had been bored during the vacation. All they had been doing was going on the beach or letting her explore somewhere.

"I am bored!" Rose complained aloud to Ryoma as they sat on the forest edge.

Ryoma sighed before commenting, "Sorry but Monkey King doesn't have any tennis courts for anyone to play on over here."

"That idiot Atobe," Rose commented with a sigh. "He's a tennis player for crying out loud. He should at least think to have built at least one court here even if it is a beach. Now what are we supposed to do?" Rose questioned with a small pout.

"Shut up brats!" Atobe yelled after hearing Rose as he was walking along the beach side.

"Oh~, he did not just call me a brat and tell me to shut up," Rose said with a narrowed stare at the Hyotei tennis captain's back as he continued to walk.

"Uh oh," Ryoma commented with a sigh. "Monkey King! I think you should take that back! Right now!" he yelled to the captain hoping the warning would get to him quickly.

"Why?" Atobe scoffed. "She's just a little girl. She can't do anything to Ore-sama?" he finished with a hair flip and a smug smile on his face as he plainly forgot that she could transform into a dragon for payback.

Ryoma gulped before standing up and walking a few steps away from Rose.

"Oh heck no," Rose drawled out with an angry tick. "No one calls me a little girl when I'm around and bored at the same time," she said glaring daggers at the captain.

Atobe glanced over at Ryoma confused at what the girl was saying and noticed the boy mouth the words 'Run away!' to him. He didn't understand the message at first and only realized it too late when Rose had transformed into her Pegasus form with a loud whinny and stomped on the ground.

As soon as he saw the girl transform, Atobe had started running for it.

"Just let me at him this once," Rose said with a narrowed glare in the direction Atobe was running. "I really want to hurt him right now…he was annoying before but now it's just gone a bit too far…"

Ryoma gulped before nodding his head in reply. He wasn't stupid enough to go against a mad female who could transform into a legend…he still valued his life after all. Sure, Rose wouldn't actually kill him, but maiming or hurting him was a different story…

Rose just smiled a smug smile before counting down the seconds before she went after Atobe. After all, it wouldn't be too much fun if she caught him easily.

'_Ten…nine…eight…seven…'_ Rose counted in her head as she stomped her feet into the ground to get a good feel for the forest ground around her.

'_Six…five…four…three…two…'_ she grinned which startled Ryoma a bit as he moved further away from her. '_One!_' she mentally yelled before digging her feet into the ground before pushing off and galloping in the same direction that she had seen Atobe run in.

Ryoma just stared after her before murmuring under his breath, "Monkey King and the others that get involved with this are so dead…" With that thought in mind, he started jogging on the same path that both Atobe and Rose had taken in order to catch up to them and hopefully stop whatever destruction Rose was going to cause…

* * *

><p>"Move out of Ore-sama's way!" Atobe yelled as he ran past everyone.<p>

The others blinked before one of them caught his sleeve and pulled him back.

"What is going on Atobe?" Tezuka asked with a raised eyebrow at the near frantic look on the Hyotei Captain's face.

"Well, Ore-sama heard Rose and Echizen talking about how Ore-sama does not have tennis courts here. Then Ore-sama called her a brat, and she got angry. The next thing Ore-sama knew, she had transformed into a horse and started chasing Ore-sama!" Atobe yelled frantically before trying to pull away and run again.

"Saa…we should start running then," Fuji said getting everyone's attention.

"Why?" Oshitari questioned.

All he got in reply was Fuji pointing down the path that Atobe had run from.

Eiji stared in the direction Fuji pointed in and widened his eyes. "Rose is galloping toward us!" he yelled before turning around and already starting to run. "Run before she kills you!" he yelled.

He didn't need to say that twice as the others immediately started running right after he completed his first sentence about Rose.

* * *

><p>"Well isn't that interesting," Rose said slowing down her pace just a bit to fall behind more while still keeping the regulars in her sights. "So he got the other regulars involved? This is going to be much more fun than I thought," she muttered to herself before turning to the side sharply and disappearing into the forest area.<p>

She galloped around the area looking for a good area and chance to spring on them and scare the living daylights out of them. "I really have to stop paying attention to Fuji and Yukimura. They really are rubbing off on me," she muttered under her breath as she slowed her pace and just treaded lightly.

"There they are," she muttered as she noticed them bending over at the waist to catch their breaths from running.

"Do you think we lost her?" she heard Kirihara say as he straightened back up.

"Not sure," Ann said while panting as she stood back up.

"She is fast, but at least we outran her," Choutarou said as he looked around and over everyone.

"How is everyone?" they all heard from a different direction.

Rose turned her head to see Ryoma walking up toward them while panting. '_He was most likely jogging after them all to make sure that I didn't overdo it probably…'_ she thought to herself before taking a deep breath and holding it.

"We are all fine. Luckily Rose didn't catch up to us," Yukimura said with a small smile on his face as he straightened up to look at Ryoma.

"Really?" Ryoma asked with a raised eyebrow getting their attention. "I would have thought that she would have caught up to you by now. She's quite fast, especially as a Pegasus from what myths say. They are one of the fastest land creatures in myth after all."

"So wait a minute," Gakuto commented. "If she is a Pegasus at the moment and they are the fastest land creatures in myth…then where is she?"

"Right here!" they heard a voice yell before a shadow passed over them and crashed to the ground creating a large cloud of smoke.

Waving their hands in front of their faces and coughing from the smoke, they somehow managed to wave the smoke away to see what had stopped in front of them.

Widening their eyes, they saw Rose in her Pegasus form with a smirk on her lips and devious eyes as she faced them with one leg already up and stomping the ground as if she was about to charge at them.

Leaning forward, Rose narrowed her eyes at the group before charging forward and successfully knocking several of the regulars down to the ground. Turning on the spot, she galloped over to where she knocked Atobe down and raised her upper body up to put all of her weight on her hind legs.

She gave him quite the scare as she kicked her front legs in the air before stomping them down.

"Ah!" Atobe shrieked scared that his life would be over just because of one creature's anger. He closed his eyes waiting for the pain until he heard laughter.

Looking up, he saw that Rose had stomped on the ground right next to his head, and I mean right next to his head as if she was just one inch closer, she would have hurt him pretty badly.

The entire group was traumatized about how close she came to pretty much killing Atobe with that stomp and couldn't move even as she walked off of Atobe and just stood by him.

"Well that was certainly funny," Rose commented as she looked around. She knocked a majority of the tennis players to the ground pretty harshly, she concluded, as there were a few bruises and marks here and there on many of the regulars. Especially Atobe considering he was the one she was gunning for in the first place.

The group was still too shocked to move, so, with a sigh, Rose and Ryoma helped get them all back to the resort they were staying at and into the medical ward for the entire group to heal.

**~Flashback End~**

* * *

><p>"Oh do shut up Ryo. You know how I get when I get bored," Rose said with a giggle at the end.<p>

"Get used to it Ro," Ryoma said with a roll of his eyes before looking out around the field. "We won't leave for another few days and we have pretty much done everything here that can be done."

"Do you want to go explore the sea with everyone?" Rose asked turning her head to look at Ryoma.

"What?" was the reply she got along with a confused face.

"I could make it so that we can explore the ocean with everyone. That is…if they would like," she said with a sheepish smile on her face at the end.

"Let's go ahead and ask them then," Ryoma commented standing up from the ground and holding out a hand for Rose to take.

After pulling herself up, Rose headed back to the mansion along with Ryoma and found the regulars finally being able to get out of bed after the bruises and marks had healed a bit.

As soon as the two had entered the room, the regulars tensed up and quickly said hello to avoid making her mad before backing up a bit or pulling up the covers a bit more for those who hadn't gotten out of bed yet.

Rose just looked a bit sheepish as she stared at them backing away a bit. In order to break the awkward silence, she said, "Does anyone want to go explore the ocean tomorrow?"

The regulars stopped moving and instead looked at her in surprise.

Seeing the looks, she explained, "I realized the only things we haven't done at all in this trip are exploring the ocean, the forest, and the mountain. We still have a few days left, so I thought that maybe we could go explore?" she said with a questioning tone at the end.

"One question," Shishido said getting the girl to turn to him. "How?"

"That will be easy. I am a dragon of wind and water, so it should be no problem to create air bubbles for you to use to breathe underwater," she said proudly with a large smile on her face.

"Don't get too cocky now," Ryoma said with a smirk which got a pout from her.

The regulars all looked at her and then looked at the captains of the group. Once they received a nod, they all yelled, "Yahoo!"

Many of the group had to cover their ears to avoid breaking their eardrums from the outburst.

Glaring at them for nearly breaking her ears, Rose said, "We'll go explore the sea tomorrow, the forest in two days, and the mountain range in three days. We can relax on the other days."

"Right!"


	29. Crashing Seas

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, this is the last update for this week. I'm planning to update on Saturdays until this fic is done which should be in the thirty-ish range for chapter number. I'm not completely sure. I'm still rewriting. I'm hoping to get at least 20 reviews before then if it is not too much to ask. Hope you enjoy the chapter and Happy New Year's Eve everyone! I'll be posting another one-shot of Pillar Pair tomorrow for the Holiday!<strong>

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><p><strong>Crashing Seas<strong>

"Alright! We are finally here!" Rose yelled walking up to the shoreline. "Hurry up! Or do you WANT me to be bored again?" she yelled back to the rest of the group behind her.

Widening their eyes in fear, they all ran for the shoreline because of what had happened the day before because of her boredom.

"So how are we going to do this exactly?" Tachibana asked staring at the ocean waves.

"That's easy," Rose replied before kneeling to the sand and taking in a large mouthful of water.

"Are you sure that's safe to do that?" Oishi yelled with worry that was clear in his tone and his expression.

"It's fine as long as she doesn't swallow," Ryoma said after getting the telepathic message to relay to Oishi.

Taking her head away from the water, Rose placed two hands over her mouth, one hand looked as if she was gripping something with the other hand right over that one with no gaps in between the hands. Relaxing herself, she started to blow several objects out of her hands.

The regulars all took a closer look at what she was doing and noticed…air bubbles?

"What's with the air bubble?" Kirihara said about to poke one.

He was stopped when Rose just nudged him in the side away from the bubble.

"Hey! What was that for-"

"She says that it's the air bubble we will be using to breathe underwater. It automatically will filter carbon dioxide into oxygen for us to breathe while we are down there," Ryoma explained knowing that Rose couldn't as she continued to blow bubble after bubble. He was surprised that she wasn't lightheaded by the time she was done, but, hey, that's the benefit of being a wind dragon after all.

"Alright," Rose said with a sigh as she finished blowing the bubbles up. "Put the bubble onto your head and let's move already," she said impatient before diving into the water without bothering about the air bubble.

"What the-"

"She's fine," Ryoma said interrupting the male before grabbing one of the bubbles, popping his head inside of the bubble, and diving under the water to follow her.

Not wanting to get left behind, the regulars also grabbed the bubbles before following what Ryoma did. Even though they dived under the water, they made sure to stay in somewhat shallow ends just in case the bubble didn't work.

They were surprised when, in fact, they were able to breathe underwater. Looking around, they saw Rose swimming, more like darting around and through the water like a torpedo using her…water element they assumed.

When Rose saw them, she speeded over to them and zipped around them causing their heads to spin from trying to catch up. With a giggle, she pointed down before slowly swimming downward so that the others would be able to stay with her.

Because of the changing air pressure, Rose had to let the group stop after every few feet so that nothing bad would happen to them. It wouldn't do well for one of them to crush their lungs because of it after all.

Once they were far enough under the water, the regulars were not able to see a thing and started panicking.

"How are we supposed to go any further? We can barely see?" someone questioned. Don't know who considering it was too dark…

"Ryo!" they heard a female voice yell.

"What is it Ro?" Ryoma answered back knowing that it was her who called him. Ann and Hanamura-san didn't call him that whatsoever, so it had to be Rose.

"Once I give the signal, picture a flame burning in between my hands," Rose said before the water around them changed currents a bit and started heading over to where Rose was at.

"Alright," Ryoma said ready to do as she had asked. He didn't question why she would ask for a flame considering they were underwater. I mean, wouldn't it be out in a second?

"Now!" she yelled before Ryoma concentrated solely on the flame.

After a few seconds, Ryoma realized why Rose had asked for the flame. Opening his eyes, he took a look and saw Rose in the now lit up seawater around them.

"So that is what you were doing?" Ryoma said taking a look at the object in her hands. It was a crystal cage made of very sturdy ice with a glowing, burning flame inside of it reflecting off of the icy surface. One would think that the flame would melt the ice, but the ice didn't melt in the slightest from what he could see.

"Impressive," Yukimura commented as he stared at the lit object.

"Thanks," Rose said with a chuckle as she used one hand to keep the light above her head to allow everyone to see as they kept going further down.

On the way down, the regulars could not help but be amazed by what they saw. They saw things they had never seen before in their lives like deep sea fish and very…peculiar plants. And by peculiar, I mean the plants looked like it would snap at them and catch them for dinner.

"Hey! Let's go in there!" Aoi said with an excited look on his face as he pointed to a cave in the wall.

"You sure?" Youhei said raising an eyebrow at the thought of going in there.

"We don't even know what is in there," Kouhei added on to his brother's question.

"Do we know what is in there?" Shou asked crossing his arms over his chest as he raised an eyebrow.

"Not a clue," Rose answered which startled them a bit. Glancing over at the group, she asked, "Did you expect me to already explore this place? I may think ahead, but not that far ahead. Why do you think I was asking whether you wanted to go explore? It wouldn't be much exploring if someone already knew what was there after all…"

"That makes sense," Mizuki said rubbing his chin as he stared into the cave.

"Let's go in then," Eiji yelled excitedly before swimming ahead into the cave.

"Wait!" everyone yelled before following the redhead.

Rose just blinked as she was left behind before shaking her head slightly and starting to swim along.

She had only swum a few feet inside the cave before she heard a loud scream, "Help!"

Widening her eyes in panic, she used the water around her to propel herself forward as she transformed and skidded right in front of the group with a snarl on her face.

"Rose!" Ryoma yelled out seeing his dragon partner stop right in front of them separating them from whatever they had screamed about.

"Who dares hurt my partner and his comrades?" Rose questioned staring at the group in front of her.

"A dragon? It can't be," one of the group members yelled in surprise.

"They were massacred years ago because of the humans! How is one still alive?" another yelled out.

Pretty soon, the group in front of Rose was asking several questions to each other.

Having enough of it all, Rose gave them each a glare before yelling, "Who dared to try and hurt my partner and his comrades?"

The entire group in front of them froze before one, larger than the rest, stepped up.

"We wouldn't dare harm them now that we know who they are partnered with," the one, apparently the leader, said.

"Then why did one of them scream?" Rose narrowed her eyes further at the creature in front of her. Now that she took a look at the creature, she noticed that he was a great white shark and the largest one she had ever seen, in both life and in pictures. He was three times the size of a normal great white shark adult and was a deep shade of grey with white stripes along its back and fins.

"Maybe they were just frightened at the amount of sharks here," the leader replied. "May I ask your name?"

"It's not polite to ask a name without giving your own," Rose said back losing the snarl and the glare as she tried to be civil.

"Oh forgive me. I am Crash, the King of the Sharks of these waters. If you would follow me, I will lead you and your human companions to the air cave above us so that they may breathe," the shark replied before turning and starting to swim.

Rose still looked a bit suspicious but looked over at the group anyway before saying, "Get on my back. It'll be easier to keep track of you."

Doing as they were told, all of the regulars climbed onto Rose's back before she glided through the water following Crash.

"My name is Rose. It's nice to meet you," Rose said as she continued to be civil toward the stranger, now acquaintance.

Crash nodded before staring ahead of him and announcing, "We are at the air pocket now," before jumping up into some air.

Rose followed him and jumped out of the water before landing on the ground steadily and leaning down so that the regulars, now without the air bubbles, would be able to touch the ground without falling off too badly.

As soon as the regulars were adjusted to the air cave, several of them were amazed by how large the cave was. "Cool! This place is just…cool!" several yelled before running around with their teammates yelling, "Be careful!" and running right after them.

Crash laughed along with his shark mates as he stared at the human companions chasing each other around the cave before noticing something. He looked to see that Rose was just watching with a small smile on her face as she watched the tennis regulars mess around in the cave.

Swimming into the area next to her, he asked, "How does it feel to be the last dragon of Earth?"

"Honestly," Rose started off with a sigh, "it's not as fun as it seems to be. For years, I was just waiting around, stuck in a cave for who knows how long, waiting for my human partner. I wasn't allowed to go out, not allowed to see the world, and not allowed to move on from the past. Now however…I've come to like this world after Ryoma finally found me. However…there is one thing that bothers me…"

"And that would be?" Crash said leaning in a bit closer to her face so that he could hear without the others eavesdropping.

Glancing around to make sure of no eavesdroppers, Rose quickly whispered what she wanted to say to Crash.

"Oh," Crash replied leaning back a bit, "that's too bad." Turning toward the tennis regulars, he announced, "I hope you are treating Rose nicely kids. She has been through quite a lot and does not need any more pain in her life…or loneliness for that matter."

"What do you mean-desu?" Dan asked with a confused look on his face as he stared at the shark.

Crash looked at the boy confused at his response. "What do you mean 'What do you mean?' boy? Can you not understand? This girl," he pointed a fin at Rose, "has been alone for centuries because of the massacre of her kind. She has had no friends, no family, and no one to comfort her. Do you honestly think that she wouldn't be lonely?"

"She is lonely, even now," Ryoma commented staring straight at the shark, startling the sea creature.

"And how would you know?"

"Because she hides her true self from us, even though she knows we like her. Isn't that right Rose?" Ryoma questioned staring up at Rose this time.

Rose just looked down at the ground before looking away signaling that Ryoma was right.

"Is that why you are so worried about showing your true self?" Yukimura questioned with a tone of concern. "Do you feel that you'll be lonely if you show yourself?"

Rose nodded slightly much to the regular's surprise and sadness before saying, "I used to only trust my true self to Ryoma as he is my partner. But now…I think I can trust you people just fine." She turned to look at them all with a small smile on her face before saying, "After all. You know how childish I can get at times," she was referring to the beach ball incident a few days prior, "and I can honestly act like an eight-year old kid at times."

"You are pretty cute when you do though," Fuji commented with a small smile on his face that got wider when she turned to him with wide eyes and a large happy smile.

"Really?" Rose exclaimed, the happiness obviously showing from her facial expression and tone.

The entire group in the cave chuckled at her behavior. She truly was childish as she said she was.

Realizing what was so funny, Rose laughed along with everyone else. "Do you mind if we can explore the sea bottom with you?" Rose asked turning to Crash.

"It would be an honor to swim with you," Crash said with a small bow of his head toward the last dragon.

Rose giggled before she transformed back into a human and created air bubbles for everyone again and then creating a light source for the entire group.

Swimming around, the shark group showed them the sunken ships in the area, explosive mines which they were warned not to touch unless they wanted to be burnt to a crisp, and then escorted them to a higher sea level to see many other animals.

"Why don't we go swim?" Crash asked his shark mates before watching as they nodded with a small gleam in their eyes.

"What are you planning?" Rose whispered to him trying to figure out what was going on. Once she heard the plan from the leader, she gave a small smirk before whispering back, "Go ahead and do it. I would love to see their faces."

To say the regulars were surprised would be an understatement. They were shocked, surprised, and frightened and everything in between! Not only did the sharks charge at them, but the sharks also managed to somehow get one or two of the tennis regulars on their backs before zipping around.

The regulars were shocked because of the sharks' behavior, surprised because they were actually riding sharks, and frightened because the sharks were swimming around so fast and turning so often that they nearly crashed into the others with only a centimeter or two in between the sharks as they turned away from each other.

Crash and Rose chuckled as they watched the regulars screaming whenever they came to close to hitting someone else.

Turning to Crash with a bit of hesitation, she said, "I'm afraid it's time for us to go now. It's quite late in our day, so we should probably be heading home."

"Aw!" several of the regulars yelled as some of the sharks swam up to them. "It's time to leave already?"

"Unfortunately yes," Rose said with a sorry smile on her face as she knew the players were enjoying themselves with the sharks.

"Aw…goodbye then everyone!" many of the regulars yelled as they got off the sharks' backs and waved as they swam off toward the surface.

"Make sure to call when you need us," Crash yelled before pulling his fin back and then throwing something at Rose.

Catching the object, she noticed that the object she had caught in her hands was a large shark tooth big enough to work as a claw on her wrists.

"It's a calling object! Make sure to keep in contact!" she heard from behind her.

With a smile, she turned her head over her shoulder and yelled out, "Thank you very much! I'll be sure to remember you!"

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><p>Once everyone was out of the water and safely on shore, they took quite a while to get dried up. For Rose, it took quite a long time as she went from the moderate temperature water to the freezing cold air.<p>

Considering she was a dragon, otherwise a reptile, the sudden temperature change did not work well with her as she froze up and collapsed on the shore.

The others had to try and warm her up quickly as they took her inside the resort including throwing several warm blankets over her as well as heating up some soup for her to drink.

As she was trying to warm up, Rose connected her camera to Atobe's printer to print some things.

What the regulars didn't expect were the pictures themselves.

"How did you take pictures of us underwater?" several of them yelled as they watched Rose print up the last of the pictures.

There were several pictures of the sharks, the undersea sights, as well as themselves with everything.

"I was able to snap quite a few pictures without you people noticing," Rose said with a weak proud smile as she was still too cold to do anything.

"Ah! Ah! Achoo!" she yelled before wiping her nose with a tissue. "I hate sudden temperature changes…" she commented with a sniffle…


	30. Ready! Set! Race!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

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><p><strong>Ready! Set! Race!<strong>

"Today's the day for the forest nya!" Eiji yelled at the group as they continued to walk away from the resort and deeper into the forest area.

"Saa…" Fuji commented staring at the nature around them with all the different plants. "Did you explore this place Rose or no?" he asked curiously. "After all, you didn't explore the sea earlier when we visited them yesterday."

"No," Rose said immediately. "I didn't explore this place at all. After all, what's the point of exploring if someone already knows the terrain?"

"Well let's go then!" Momo yelled pumping a fist into the air much to someone's annoyance.

"Idiot Momoshiri," Kaidoh muttered under his breath as she stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked along the path.

"What did you say Mamushi?" Momo yelled back with an angry tick on his forehead as he nearly butted heads with the other.

"Want to fight?" Kaidoh yelled back pushing back against Momo.

"Bring it!" Momo yelled before raising two hands and blocking Kaidoh's own hands before pushing against each other, trying to make the other fall.

"Would you two calm down you overly sized oafs?" Rose yelled trying to get them to stop. The comment about the overly sized oafs seemed to work as the two blinked in surprise at the comment before looking at her. "Sheesh, you are going to scare all of the animals in the forest away with your behavior."

The two just settled with glaring at each other instead of arguing and/or fighting with each other.

With a sigh, Rose shook her head and walked on to the deeper part of the forest.

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><p>The regulars had to be fast, yet cautious, because Rose was practically jogging the entire way that they were walking. They occasionally saw her jump from time to time in the midst of her jog and, when they walked past the spot, noticed that she was jumping over animals that were walking across the forest floor.<p>

A few hours had passed with everyone seeing many kinds of animals and plants. It was amazing for a forest as there were several plants and animals that should not have been in there in the first place yet still were there.

Sometimes, the group would stop to take a break just to play with the animals nearby. The rabbit, dear, birds, and other animals were pretty harmless. The snakes were pretty harmless, although the only people who would dare touch them would include Kaidoh, Inui, Fuji, and a few other people that were smart enough to know where to touch the snakes without setting them off.

"Why are we already so far into the forest?" Gakuto asked with a hint of a whine as his feet were starting to get tired from the long walk.

"I don't know. I just feel that something is up ahead," Rose said with a serene smile on her face as she concentrated on something around them.

After a few moments, Rose suddenly snapped her eyes open with a hint of interest in her expression. Turning to the rest of the group, she pointed over her shoulder at something in the distance before saying, "Come on already! I found something interesting that you might all want to see!"

With that said, Rose suddenly sprinted off in the direction that she had pointed in.

The regulars, not wanting to get left behind by the girl, sprinted after her. Luckily, Rose had run along a path that was completely clear of any roots, plants, trees, and animals thankfully.

Finally catching up to the girl, they noticed that she stopped right next to a tree and was staring at something with a calm smile on her face.

Looking ahead of them, the regulars knew what she was smiling about when they saw what she sensed earlier. They were amazed. There was a lake about the size of five tennis courts right underneath a large waterfall that flowed into the far end of the lake.

Smiling happily, they all rushed at the lake before stopping at the shoreline and took off their shoes in order to soak their feet in the water after such a long walk.

"Don't wander off too far," Rose giggled as she noticed some of the more childish regulars start a water fight and splashed each other relentlessly.

She just leaned back against the tree as she watched the others play around. She was happy that she had somehow sensed this lake after so much walking. The break was relaxing for her, and she couldn't stop laughing at some of the regulars falling in the water.

"But if everyone is so happy," she muttered under her breath, "why do I have a feeling that something is going to pop out of nowhere?"

She thought about this for a while before deciding that if anything did show up, she would be ready to defend everyone. After all, that was her job as a partner and a protector now…protecting her partner and his comrades was her duty as a dragon until they died.

Looking up toward the sky, she noticed that it was a very clear blue. "Okay…no sudden weather changes today, so that can't be it," she concluded with a slight narrowing of her eyes. "Then what could it b-"

"Ah!" she heard someone scream along with some other sound that was definitely not from the regulars.

Quickly turning her attention to the lake, she noticed that the regulars were running away from the middle of the lake and closer to the shoreline.

"What's going on?" she yelled out to everyone as she got off the tree and got into a position where she could rush toward the group just in case something attacked them.

"We don't know! We were just by the waterfall before we heard a loud noise and just started running!" Eiji explained as he finally got to the shoreline.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned quickly at another noise before seeing three groups charging at the group from the north, northeast, and northwest direction.

"That's a lot of horses," Niou commented with wide eyes as she stared at the large group of animals charging at them.

The one that scared them the most was the horse in front. It was a black horse three times the size of a normal adult horse with a dark black mane and tail that had red tints. The eyes were a dark brown while the hooves were the most interesting color the regulars had seen. They were colored blood red for crying out loud!

They all saw the leader charge at them quicker than the rest before it jumped and landed right in front of the regulars with its front legs up in the air ready to stomp them all down.

Rose widened her eyes before closing them to concentrate on her Pegasus transformation. As soon as she saw the glow surround her figure, she charged right in front of the leader of the herd as the light shattered revealing her horse-like form.

Raising her own front legs in the air right in front of the leader, she yelled, "Stand down!" before stomping on the ground and splashing the water they were both standing on.

The leader was clearly not expecting the new horse as it kicked its front legs out and kicked Rose right in the chest sending her back a few steps.

Rose stomped her front legs and stayed her ground in front of the group of humans she had grown to like. Shaking the pain off, she pawed her feet before charging forward with her head down low before she made it to the leader and forced her back with a head butt.

As soon as the leader was forced back a bit, the leader stood on the lake ground with its four legs poised for a charge and its head down low. "You aren't normal," the leader said in a female voice. At least we knew the gender of the leader now…

"Well of course not," Rose growled out with her head lowering to the ground and one of her front legs already pawing at the ground as if she was going to charge at them.

"Now calm down. We never intended to hurt them. We just didn't expect them to come into our territory," the leader said trying to reason with the horse as she came out of her attacking stance and into a calmer pose to try and calm the new horse down.

"So instead you nearly attack them and send them into a panicked frenzy?" Rose asked with a sneer as she raised her legs up and stomped the ground once again causing water to splash through the air. "I won't forgive anyone who dares hurt my partner and his comrades," she said as she concentrated on making the water swirl around the herd and capture them in a large ring.

The horses in the herd whinnied in surprise at the water surrounding them before staring at the horse glaring at them all.

"We didn't mean to hurt them…but now that I look at what you have done, you are most definitely not a horse or a human," the leader said. "My name is Seikatsu. I'm the leader of this herd in the area."

Rose grunted before slowly letting down the water ring and saying, "My name is Rose."

"No title or anything of the sort?"

"I would tell you…but I'm not sure how you would react…" Rose said lowering her head as she noticed Ryoma come up next to her.

"Is that your partner?" Seikatsu asked staring at the two.

"That's right. I am her partner," Ryoma replied while rubbing Rose's neck. He could feel the tense muscles under her skin. She may have let down the water ring, but she was still tensed up and ready for any fight. '_She seriously cares about protecting us…'_ he couldn't help but think as he watched her eyes switch back and forth between each of the horses as if waiting for one of them to make a move.

"Well then, I know what you are," Seikatsu said with a proud smile on her lips as she figured it out. Bowing her head low to the ground while still remaining above water, she said, "I welcome you to my land then…dragon…"

The rest of her herd perked up their ears in surprise before also bowing their head down to the water surface.

Not expecting the sudden treatment, Rose jerked her head up in surprise before glancing at all of them. "Please raise up your head," she said in a noble tone that scared the others.

"Oh? So you do know nobility," Seikatsu commented as she raised her head along with the rest of her herd.

"Only enough for friendly greetings," Rose admitted with a sheepish smile as a light shone from her before shattering to reveal her human form. She immediately raised a hand to her chest as she kneeled to the ground.

"Rose!" Ryoma yelled kneeling down next to the girl and wrapping an arm around her shoulders to steady her. "That's right. You were kicked in the chest in your Pegasus form."

Rose nodded slightly to acknowledge that he was correct as she closed her eyes in pain.

Seikatsu trotted over with her herd before stopping a few feet in front of Rose. "If you would like, you may rest here while my herd acquaints themselves with your own comrades."

"That would be appreciated," Rose said nodding as Ryoma helped her over to a nearby rock and sat her down on it as the rest of the herd headed over to the tennis players and started playing with them.

Seikatsu chuckled as she watched her herd trot, jog, and gallop around the rest of the tennis players and getting them to go into the lake. Seikatsu turned with a narrowed stare toward Ryoma and looked him up and down.

Noticing the stare, Ryoma turned to her and asked, "What is it?"

"What makes you special enough for the dragon to choose you of all people?" Seikatsu asked with a curious tone. "I'm sure that there are many other people like you, so I must ask…why you?"

"I'm not sure myself," Ryoma said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well…let's see whether you have what it takes to be her partner," Seikatsu said before calling over her fastest herd horses.

Seikatsu looked toward the group of humans and declared, "Choose five people to ride these horses. Ryoma shall be on the sixth. These six shall have a race around the lake to see your skills in strategy and quick-thinking! There will be a total of ten laps done!"

After everyone had chosen, the six chosen riders from the entire group were: Ryoma, Saeki, Tachibana, Shishido, Kajimoto, and Kirihara.

"On your mark!" Seikatsu yelled as everyone mounted their horses. "Get set!" Everyone watched as the horses started pawing at the ground. "Race!"

The six riders went off sprinting except for a few. Ryoma, Kajimoto, and Tachibana were the only ones who trotted from the start of the race as the other three speeded off.

After three laps, the three racers who started off slower were starting to catch up to the speedsters. The watching players didn't know exactly why but Seikatsu, Rose, and the riders themselves knew the reason.

After another two laps, the speedsters were slowing down even further. They slowed enough to allow the other three racers to gallop right past them.

"Come on Ryoma," Rose whispered as they all finished their seventh lap.

All of a sudden, the waterfall started pouring in more water surprising two of the riders, namely Shishido and Kirihara, and knocking them to the ground.

"What in the world?"

"Oh yes. Did I forget to mention that at times the water will overflow from the waterfall and suddenly create a larger one?" Seikatsu mentioned. "There is yet another thing I should mention," she said before everyone saw the water splash down and create a large wave taking Saeki out from the race.

"Is there anything else we should know about?" Kajimoto asked not paying attention to the ground in front of him only to somehow trip on a large rock that had lodged itself loose from its original spot.

"That," Seikatsu deadpanned as she watched. "Now there are only two."

"Ryoma and Tachibana," Rose whispered under her breath as she brought her hands up and clasped them together wishing for Ryoma's good luck.

The two racers were running around the lake another three times dodging the floating rocks along with the small crashing waves.

The two were neck and neck before Ryoma suddenly made his horse sprint past the finish and won the race.

"Way to go Ryo!" Rose yelled with a large smile on her face as she stood from her spot now that her chest was starting to feel better.

Ryoma nodded before slowly getting off of his horse and gently touched the ground as there were still many rocks floating around.

"That was a great race," Seikatsu said. "And you have proven your quick-thinking as well as your strategic skills to me. You are, in my opinion, worthy of being a dragon's partner."

Rose clapped before taking out the camera she had brought along once more. "I got a lot of pictures too! Thanks a bunch!" she yelled out happily getting a chuckle from everyone in the area.

"What's so funny?" she asked before feeling something being tossed at her. Catching the object, she noticed that it was a blood red horseshoe and looked at Seikatsu.

"Be sure to call us when you need it," Seikatsu said before nodding to her herd as they ran off in another direction away from the lake.

"Well that was certainly interesting," Sanada commented as they started walking back to the resort.

"Next stop…the mountains…"


	31. Is He Worthy of Her?

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

* * *

><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

* * *

><p><strong>Is He Worthy of Her?<strong>

"Next up is the mountains right Rose?" Yukimura asked as they continued climbing up the path.

"That's correct if you didn't notice," Rose said with a small roll of her eyes at the obvious question as they walked.

"Do you think that we'll meet any more animals like Seikatsu and Crash?" Ann asked her brother as they walked.

"Saa…who knows," Fuji answered in place of him.

"I don't think she was talking to you Fuji-senpai," Momo commented as he noticed the little narrowed stare she had. She meant for her brother to answer that obviously…

"Oh really?" Fuji drawled out as he opened his eyes slightly.

Momo gulped and backed up along with a few other people that were next to the tensai. Boy did he look intimidating with that very narrow stare he had on right now…

"Come on already slowpokes!" they heard from a short distance away. Looking toward the source, they saw that Rose was already around twenty feet away from them as she yelled, "You guys are slower than sloths!"

The regulars didn't want to anger her either or make her bored, so they decided to hurry and jog to catch up to her.

"Let me guess Rose. You didn't explore this place either?" Oshitari asked walking up next to the girl.

"Nope, not at all. Although I'm happy that one of you finally gets the point," Rose said happily with a smirk on her face.

"So it'll be the same case as yesterday Rose-chan?" Jiroh asked as he continued to rub his eyes sleepily as he was on Kabaji's back. He was just too tired to walk at the moment…

"Don't let your guard down," Tezuka said glancing over at Rose only to see her wave her hand dismissively at the warning while saying, "Right buchou."

"What type of animals do you think are here nya?" Eiji questioned as he looked around while jumping around the entire group on the path.

"I'm thinking that there will be bears, mountain lions, lynx, foxes, and other mountain animals," Gakuto said trying to scare Eiji.

Instead of scaring Eiji like he wanted to do, he instead scared Oishi…a lot. Oishi widened his eyes to the point where they looked to be popping out of his head as he started ranting on and on about how they might get attacked and how they could get hurt and other things that dealt with injuries, wounds, and the like.

He only calmed down when Rose just sighed and told him, "Please be quiet Oishi-senpai. Stop worrying. Besides Oishi-senpai, it's not like we are about to get attacked right at the-"

Her statement was cut off as there was a loud growl before something tackled her to the side.

"What the heck?" the group heard her yell as they turned to where she was toppled over.

Widening their eyes, they screamed in fear at what they saw.

"Get off of me you darn cat," they heard her growl as she tried to pry the mountain lion off of her side. The big cat had somehow jumped from somewhere and tackled Rose straight to the ground with its teeth and fangs buried deep in her side.

"I said get off!" Rose said using all of her strength into one final kick that sent the mountain lion off of her, tearing off a bit of her shirt and a bit of skin, and right into the stonewall the group was right next to.

"Rose!" several people yelled as she got back on her feet with a hand at her side trying to stop the bleeding from the cuts she had received from the lion's bite.

"That darn mountain lion," she growled out with her eyes turning dragon-like as she stared at the big cat. "Looks like we have company everyone," she commented getting everyone's attention. She pointed at the top of the stonewall the lion had crashed into earlier, and everyone turned to see what she was talking about.

As soon as the regulars looked atop of the wall, they gaped at what they saw before backing up.

They saw several animals above them that included a group of mountain lions along with some lynx and foxes. Hearing a growl from behind them, they turned to see a large group of bears surrounding them from their other sides.

"This is not going to end pretty is it Rose?" Ryoma commented as he watched Rose walk up to him while still clutching her side.

"You got that right," Rose said closing one eye in pain as she continued to try and stop the bleeding. The darn wound just wouldn't stop bleeding. Sure it was only a trickle of blood, but it just wouldn't stop bleeding enough for her to not worry about dying of blood loss.

"What are we going to do?" Kamio asked as he stared at all of the animals glaring at them.

"I know what I have to do," Rose said materializing one of her fans from the air in front of her and grabbing it with the hand not clutching her side. "I'll make sure they don't get close enough to us. After all, I don't need you guys to be injured while on an exploration."

"Do you want me to help?" Ryoma offered knowing that she couldn't fight too well with just one hand.

"If you want to. Just don't wound them too badly," Rose commented with a narrowed glare before throwing the fan at the nearest animal which happened to be a bear that had approached them from behind.

Concentrating her energy in the air flowing around them, she made the fan hit the bear before bouncing off and aiming toward another animal as if it were a pinball in those virtual games she was able to play on the internet using Ryoma's computer.

Ryoma just widened his eyes before ducking to the ground along with the rest of the tennis players in hopes not to get hit in the head by the spinning fan. "Watch where you are swinging that weapon!" Ryoma yelled knowing that Rose was just trying to defend the group from the wild animals. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't warn them about what she was going to do with the weapon!

"Sorry," she muttered as she forced the fan to release the metal spokes it had. The metal spokes flew outward before striking the ground around several of the animals, thankfully not injuring a single one of them. The attack was just supposed to make the animals back off anyway, so there was no harm done in not injuring them.

"There is no end to them," Fuji commented as he stared at the animals that continued to surround them even after Rose had chased a few of them off.

"It's as if they are rogue animals," Rose commented as she caught her fan once more. She was starting to get tired and the wound from her side was starting to get to her.

"Rose! Watch out behind you!" Yukimura yelled as he pointed behind her.

"What?" Rose questioned turning around only to widen her eyes. She crashed to the ground in surprise as the bear behind her crashed right into her and landed on her on all fours.

She gritted her teeth from both the crash to the ground and the fact that something knocked into her side wound again. "Looks like the blood loss really got to me," she gritted between her teeth as she tried to struggle out of the bear's grip.

The bear wouldn't let her up though and gave a loud roar before showing its large teeth that were about to bite her throat out.

"Rose!"

"That's enough!" a louder, female, authoritative voice called out.

The bear above Rose stopped its descent toward her throat before slowly getting off the girl.

Just as Rose was about to get up and off the ground, another creature landed right on top of her with its face right in front of hers.

"Rose!" the tennis players yelled once again seeing the creature on top of Rose. They were seriously scared for her now. The bear was one thing as it was two times her size, but this creature was something completely different.

This creature was the size of a small cabin that would be in the middle of the woods somewhere! Her claws were transparent and her tail was slightly silver with the hair at the end being a pure white color. The eyes were blue and her coat was white except for the few silver patches of fur on her back and her ears and head.

"That is one large lion," Shinji deadpanned as he couldn't really say anything else about the creature in front of them.

"Who dares attack my fellow creatures?" the lion roared into Rose's face.

Rose just glared back at the lion before snapping, "Your fellow creature attacked me first!"

The lion blinked once before slowly making her way off of Rose and stared at the lion still at the bottom of the stonewall. "Is that true?" she asked the fallen creature.

When she got a nod in return, she narrowed her eyes before turning toward Rose who was just starting to get off the ground. Seeing the human girl glare at her, she said, "My apologies then. I did not know that my fellow creature attacked you first. I thought it was the other way around."

Rose just nodded in understanding before gazing at all the animals surrounding them as she gently gripped her side again.

"You are injured?" the lion asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Yes," Rose said before she noticed one of the lynx jumping off the stonewall and making its way toward her.

"Don't worry. She will help you with that wound," the lion said with a comforting tone.

Allowing her trust to follow through for one second, Rose slowly let her hand down from the wound and let the lynx see it. She watched as the cat licked the wound clean of the blood before the wound stopped bleeding. Then the lynx nudged her hand to the side to lick it clean of the blood that she had gotten from gripping her side.

"That's interesting to see it stop bleeding after bleeding – even though it was a trickle – for a while," Rose commented patting her side slightly to see that it wouldn't bleed at all.

"My name is Wairudo. I'm the leader of this mountain range. I'm sorry for my fellow creatures. I can safely and honestly assume that they felt you were going to hunt them down. It wouldn't be the first time that this happened to my group after all," the lion said hoping to get some understanding from the humans in front of her.

"I can understand the hunting," Rose said bowing her head in understanding as her own kind was hunted in years past after all. Straightening up again, she said, "My name is Rose. It's nice to meet you."

"So then. What are you?" Wairudo asked bluntly as she stared at the girl.

"Excuse me?"

"You survived quite a bit of blood loss," Wairudo said pointing a claw at the bloody ground. "Not many people can survive such a loss of blood. That makes you a non-human. So then there is the question of 'what are you?' to my mind."

"You are correct in the fact that I'm not human," Rose said walking back over to Ryoma. "Let me give you a hint. I have a human partner and I was also hunted many years ago."

"Hunted years ago while having a human partner now huh?" Wairudo questioned lying down on her stomach with her tail swishing in the air behind her. "A dragon I am assuming? They are the only creatures I know that were hunted publicly and had humans for partners many years ago."

"That is correct," Rose said with a small smile on her face at the correct guess.

"So he is your partner?" she asked pointing her tail at Ryoma. Getting a nod in return, Wairudo stood up onto all fours and said, "Let's test how strong that boy is then. If he can't beat me, then he isn't strong enough to become a partner of the dragons."

"And if I do lose?" Ryoma questioned with a narrowed stare.

"Then you will die in this fight," Wairudo said bluntly as she stared back with a critiquing gaze.

The entire group, including Rose, could only gulp in fear and pray for Ryoma's safety during the fight.

Immediately, Ryoma had gently pushed Rose into someone else to hold onto her as he charged forward with the scythe already materialized in his hands and swung at the large lion.

"Quick boy," Wairudo commented as she jumped up high into the air before slamming down a paw on the ground next to him.

Ryoma quickly side-stepped out of the way so he wouldn't get crushed by the lion. He widened his eyes when he saw what was underneath the lion's paw. "That's quite the crater," he commented as he saw the very large crater underneath her paw. He never noticed the small smirk on the lion's face before he was slammed with a very large rock that had flown from the crater.

"That's scary…" Eiji commented hiding behind Oishi.

"…and powerful," Fuji finished with a hint of amazement as he continued to watch the fight.

"Come on brat! Fight!" Atobe yelled trying to cheer on Ryoma as best as he could.

"Come on! Show me you can be her partner!" Wairudo declared before slamming a tail on the ground creating a small shockwave throughout the ground. Wrapping her tail around a large rock, Wairudo threw it forward right at Ryoma.

"Darn it," Ryoma commented as he saw it. Raising his scythe up, he swung it in a circle before twirling it around to slice the rocks into pebbles.

"Ryoma! You can do it!" Rose yelled surprising the group. She had a hopeful look in her expression as she continued to watch the fight.

Ryoma nodded in understanding before he raised his scythe again before grabbing the chain on the end and twirling the scythe –hilt, blade, and staff – in the air before throwing the scythe at the lion with the chain still in his hand.

The scythe was off balance though and missed its target completely.

"You are still working on that I presume," Wairudo commented watching as he pulled the chain to bring the scythe back to him.

"I'm willing to train it to protect her," Ryoma commented with a blank stare as everyone knew who he was referring to as the girl had a small blush appear on her face from the comment and obvious dedication for protection.

"Come on then," Wairudo said before roaring aloud and causing a few rocks to tumble down from the mountain toward the group.

Ryoma saw this and quickly slammed the butt of his scythe onto the ground making a wall made of stone appear from the ground in front of the group of regulars which blocked the incoming boulders.

"Phew, that was close," Yukimura sighed in belief as he gripped his shirt right above his heart. This was definitely not good for his condition…

They watched as Ryoma gathered the chain in his hands again before twirling the scythe and throwing it at Wairudo.

This time Wairudo jumped to the side away from the attack before noticing Ryoma twirling the chain slightly in his hands. "What is he doing?" she muttered to herself before she felt something wrapping around her legs and then something appearing right next to her feet.

Looking down, she noticed that the chain from the scythe was wrapping around her legs with several stone pillars surrounding her feet. When she glanced back at up Ryoma, she noticed that he had let the scythe's chain grow longer as he drew the weapon back in a large circle.

Smiling lightly at the dedication the boy had, Wairudo said, "I give up. You win. You are most worthy of being a dragon's partner."

"Way to go Ryoma!" Rose yelled along with a few cheers of several of their classmates and friends.

"One question…how are we supposed to get down to the bottom of the mountainside now? It's quite late," Choutarou commented as he stared at the sky about to turn dark from the night.

"That's true…I'm not good with flying during the nighttime," Rose commented with a sheepish smile on her face. "Walking no problem, flying, I have more luck trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"We will help," a mountain lion declared as it walked up followed by many other mountain lions. "We are able to take two people on at a time. We need more exercise anyway," it said using exercise as the excuse for doing them a favor.

"That would be much appreciated," Rose said before sensing another thing being tossed at her. She heard Wairudo say, "For when you need us," before Rose decided to climb onto a mountain lion behind Ryoma and they all headed off toward the resort once more. Looking at the object in her hands, she noticed that it was a large transparent claw.

As they ran down the mountainside, Rose couldn't but help turn over her shoulder and starting to snap more pictures.

"How do you manage to keep sneaking that camera everywhere we go without it getting crushed?" Ryoma questioned noticing what she was doing.

"I just got the skills," she said playfully as she snapped pictures of everyone on their mountain lions.

By the time everyone got home, they were all sad to leave the mountain lions as it wasn't every day that you could ride one without possible getting killed first.

"Thank you for your assistance," Rose said with a bow as the mountain lions nodded back before rushing up the mountain again before it got too dark for them.

When everyone was inside, they watched as Rose hooked up her camera to the printer again and looked to see what pictures she had gotten this time.

It seemed that she had printed the pictures she got from the forest exploration and now the mountain exploration. They had the same question as Ryoma as to how she could even bring the camera without possibly getting it crushed by everything they had done. Especially the mini-fights Rose had trying to protect them all, which included the small hoof fight against Seikatsu and then the fight against the mountain animals.

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><p>The rest of the days at the beach were pretty boring as everyone was relaxing after those three fun-filled explorations. They couldn't wait to go on more explorations, but there was absolutely no place new to explore at the moment.<p>

"We'll have to be careful Ryoma," Rose said on their way back home as they rode the plane this time.

"I know Rose," he replied leaning back against his chair.

"They are coming…and we'll be ready for them," he said with a narrowed stare out the window. "No one tries to kill my partner and gets away with it…"


	32. What Happened Next

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

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><p><strong>What Happened Next<strong>

Finally, it was the time for the National tournament for all of the qualifying teams. Quite a bit had happened in the time that the group had left from their vacation to this point. Let's give you a bit of insight neh?

**_~Junior Selection Camp for Against America~_**

"Are you serious? Kirihara is playing a match against Ryoma?" Kamio asked as he and a few others ran to the tennis courts in the selection camp. Many juniors had been chosen to go to the selection to be chosen from for the team going against the America team coming for a tournament hosted by the American coach.

"Just move!" someone yelled as they continued to move toward the courts.

"You can do it! Ryoma! Kirihara!" they heard as soon as they made it to the courts. It seemed the match as well as the person yelling had gained the attention of many people from Ryuuzaki's tennis group and a few others from other groups.

"Come on! You can do it!" the person yelled again getting their attention.

They saw Rose in her usual tennis outfit of a white tennis shirt with a pair of dark blue shorts as well as white tennis shorts. She wore different attire from the rest of the group as she wasn't helping but she wasn't participating at the same time. She was more like on the look-out for any funny business by the hunters, and in order to watch out for everyone when they were spread out, she would have to concentrate. She wouldn't be able to watch over them all at once if she couldn't concentrate, and there was no way she could concentrate on both protecting them and playing tennis at the same time.

"You can't cheer for both of us!" Kirihara yelled back as he returned the shot that Ryoma had just hit.

"I can and I will!" Rose yelled back. She knew that Ryoma had found out the truth about who had pushed Kirihara down the stairs. Honest to say, she was surprised that Ann of all people would be the culprit even though it was only just an accident.

When Ryoma hit a drop shot, Kirihara tried to return it only to fall flat on his face from trying.

"He's not going to change Ryoma!" someone yelled from her side.

"Oh do shut up!" Rose yelled back trying to defend her friend. There was no way she was going to allow someone to badmouth Kirihara, no matter how light it sounded, when he was trying so hard to defeat the devil side of him.

"He's not going to change. Look at him! His eyes are red!" someone else yelled.

"Do you see what he is doing though?" Rose yelled back at him before gesturing a hand at Kirihara.

The gathered group looked at Kirihara to see that he was just standing there, not moving a muscle, his body tense as if he was trying to force himself to keep still.

"He's standing still. What of it?"

"He's standing still because he is trying to hold back the devil. If you had only helped him with his training, you wouldn't have a problem!" Rose yelled back with anger clear in her eyes. '**These people just don't get it. They can't expect people to change if they don't help out do they?**_'_

'**Some people are just that stupid,**' she heard the reply from Ryoma.

'**Well…at least you are trying Ryo,**' she replied back as the two continued the match.

'**I know that you are trying something too. After all, you have been visiting Rikkaidai recently. Once every week on the weekends actually,**' Ryoma commented as he won the game against Kirihara proving that, indeed, Kirihara had changed for the better. Nothing was going to stop the second year now.

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><p>At the tournament, the eight people were chosen for which match. Sanada and Atobe were one of the doubles pairing with Oshitari and Eiji on the other. Sengoku, Kirihara, Fuji, and Ryoma were the three singles players and then the substitute, respectfully.<p>

'**If only you didn't go after Kevin again,**' Rose commented with a smile on her face as she leaned on the railing to watch the matches, having left her actual seat a while ago to get a closer look along with the rest of the tennis players from Japan.

'**Shut up. At least it gave me a chance to see what I was doing wrong and actually get on the team,**' she heard from Ryoma.

The distance they could talk to one another had grown a lot from the beginning. In the beginning, they were only able to telepathically communicate when they were several feet from each other. Now they would be able to talk when they about a half mile apart. They were trying to make sure it would reach farther though just in case they were separated for a long period of time.

'**Sanada and Atobe actually make a good pairing no matter how…weird it is in my opinion,**' Rose commented with a giggle while trying to get a specific response.

'**It doesn't look all that bad to me. It actually looks…impressive…in my opinion,**' she heard back.

'_Score!_' she thought as she got the exact response she wanted. Now she knew what both sides of the group were thinking. '_I can't wait! I'm going to make sure that I keep him happy…even if it makes me a little jealous…'_ she thought to herself as she started coming up with a few plans.

"Yes! Sanada and Atobe won!" Momo yelled as he stood up from his chair and watched the match.

"Who's next?" Rose asked as if not knowing who was. After all, she wasn't there for when the selection camp announced the teams. She was patrolling around the actual tournament area herself for if there was anything suspicious.

"Kikumaru-senpai and Oshitari are the next doubles players," Momo said excitedly. "I can't wait to see how this works out!"

"Neither can I," Rose commented with a giggle as she looked back at the courts.

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><p>"Oh come on, they can't be serious right?" Rose commented as she stared as both Sengoku and Bobby were unable to continue the match. "Those two idiots overdid themselves," she commented with a shake of her head as she watched them get taken away to the infirmary.<p>

'**Do you think you will be able to help them?**' she heard suddenly.

'**Sengoku and Bobby? I could probably help them recover quickly but no immediately like I can when healing you,**' she responded back before she felt the urge to go ahead and help anyway whether Ryoma said no or not. '**I'll see what I can do for them**,' she said as she straightened herself up from leaning against the railing and made her way to the infirmary to have a look at the two players.

"You really outdid yourself you idiot," she said as she walked inside the room to see the two players just lying down on the beds.

"Ah be quite cutie," Sengoku said messing around with a small smile on his face.

Returning the smile, Rose just walked over to him before saying, "How is your arm?"

"It's doing well," Sengoku said lifting it up a bit. It was still a bit sore from the overuse but it looked to be fine.

"It'll be fine after a few weeks or so if you just rest," Rose said as she took a closer look. "However…if I tweak a little bit with your arm, I can probably help you recover in just a week instead."

"That would be appreciated," Sengoku said with a laugh.

Shaking her head slightly at his childishness, she raised one hand above his arm before flowing magic through it and lighting up the sore muscles in the arm he had used during the match. Waving her hand over the arm, she made sure that the water inside each of the cells in the sore areas would be healing water than would help speed up the recovery process. She did the same for the rest of his body as he was playing quite harshly.

"What is that?" she heard from the other occupant of the room. Glancing over, she saw Bobby looking at her with wide eyes.

"Promise to keep it a secret and I'll help you out," she offered. "After all, you are bit sore too aren't you?"

"Yes…and I promise," Bobby said not really liking the pain that came with the sore muscles he had gained in his match.

Rose giggled before giving him the same treatment as Sengoku so that he would be fine in just a week instead of the several he would need.

After she was done, she stayed to explain briefly about what she was and what she could do at the moment. She also decided, with the encouragement of Sengoku, to show him a glimpse of what she looked like in her dragon form although she was much smaller as she had to fit in the room without crushing anything.

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><p>"So what's happened now?" Rose said after exiting the infirmary just to see another person get rushed there. "Seriously?" she asked raising an eyebrow before walking up to the bleachers right above Tezuka who was the current bench coach. "What happened?"<p>

"While you were gone, Fuji won his match against Arnold and Kirihara was up against Kevin. Kirihara smashed his shoulder against the pole while returning a shot, and now that hit is starting to take its toll," Tezuka explained.

"The poor kid," she commented as she looked in the direction of the infirmary. "What's going to happen now?"

"Baker is deciding what happens," Tezuka explained once more before looking toward her and saying, "Help Kirihara if you can."

"Right," she said before heading off to the infirmary once more. '_I swear these people get more hurt by playing tennis than by actual fighting…_' she thought to herself with a giggle at how dedicated they were to the sport.

After she had helped Kirihara, she made it back in time to see Ryoma win the match with Kevin. "Way to go Ryoma!" she yelled as soon as she made it outside. Running up to him and hugging him around the shoulders, she said, "I'm so proud of my partner!"

"Get off already," Ryoma said trying to pry her off of him except he wasn't really trying that hard if people couldn't tell from the small smile on his face.

**_~End of Selection Camp~_**

Well, that's what happened to the selection camp but…what about her promise to help Yukimura? Didn't she promise to visit him? Let's see what happened there.

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><p>Okay, honestly, this story isn't as popular as it seems considering there was such a large skip in chapters for the reviews. There are 186 visitors so far (I checked my story stats just now) and yet no one has left a review whatsoever. No, I'm not saying I'll be abandoning the story or putting it up for adoption. This is my first story on fanfiction, whether it is a rewrite or not, and I am not going to let it go. I'm saying that I will not post until I get at least as many reviews as I have chapters. That should be quite easy. It's only at least one review per chapter after all. Ja ne and hope to publish again soon (I say that because it actually depends on your readers). I'll still be writing though so ja ne~<p>

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><p><strong><em><span>~Rose's Promise to Yukimura~<span>_**

"Hello Yukimura!" Rose greeted as she came to visit him at Rikkaidai once more. The last few weeks had been the same for her. Training along with Ryoma for fighting and with the tennis club for what else? Tennis. The weekends were different now that they had arrived back from the vacation.

Sure, Ryoma had questioned her a bit as to why she was going to Rikkaidai each and every weekend, but he never pried further when she replied, "Just some business to take care of."

It had been quite fun for her to visit every weekend as she would always somehow arrive at the end of each weekend practice for the regulars. It was fun to let them take her out around the town as it was different than in Tokyo a bit. They were in Kanagawa after all, so of course it was different than Tokyo.

Luckily, after one or two weekends of the same treatment, Yukimura was well enough to go out of the hospital for a certain period of time, long enough to where this could happen.

"Come on Rose! Let's go here!" Kirihara yelled dragging her off to another shop.

"Hold up!" she yelled as she got dragged along. Reaching a hand out behind her, she turned her head and yelled, "Someone help me!"

The other regulars of Rikkaidai could only laugh at her pleading expression. They knew that she was not used to being taken out this often by anyone, not even Ryoma, so she was obviously a bit nervous of the entire thing.

As soon as Kirihara had finally stopped dragging the poor girl around, they all went to the park they normally did whenever she visited.

Sighing in relief that the dragging had stopped, Rose reached into the bag she brought before taking out a bottle of clear water. "Here you go Yukimura-senpai," she said tossing to the bottle over to him.

"Thanks," Yukimura said catching it out of the air before opening the bottle and downing the contents.

"I'll check your progress with that one when we get you back alright," Rose said leaning back against the tree. "I do have one question for you though."

"And that would be?" Yukimura questioned after tossing her the empty bottle again.

Catching it out of the air the same way he did, she asked, "What do you think about my partner?"

"Random question but okay," Yukimura replied with a shrug.

Before he could answer, she asked the same question to everyone in the group.

"Well, he's definitely strong considering the fight I saw," Sanada commented with a bit of something in his eyes that no one else could, hopefully, recognize.

"He's cute too," Yukimura said with a giggle. "I wouldn't mind seeing him every once in a while," he added.

"He's very smart," Yanagi commented. "Being able to think on his feet during the vacation," he added for emphasis about his comment.

As everyone said their comments about the boy, Rose couldn't help but let the grin on her face grow bigger as she heard them all. '_At least I definitely know about them now. He'll be in good hands hopefully,'_ she thought to herself.

"Where do you guys want to go now?" she asked standing up and putting the bottle away for next time.

"Let's go to the amusement park close by!" Kirihara yelled before grabbing her wrist and running off.

"Not again!" Rose yelled in a near whine as she was dragged off much to the other's amusement.

"That is never going to get old," Yukimura commented with a small smile on his face.

"How do you feel about this Yukimura? Do you think she has told anyone?" Sanada asked the bluenette.

"I don't think so. She doesn't seem like one to break a promise," he answered as they all started jogging to try and catch up to the two younger students.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for one, she keeps coming here instead of leaving me be. I don't think she would do this for just anyone though. There has to be a reason besides her past that she wants to help me out a bit," Yukimura said aloud as he continued to think about it.

"We'll know when she reveals herself. That's all we can do," Yagyuu commented as he ran up to the two of them as Yanagi ran up further ahead to try and stop the two from accidently going into traffic.

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><p>"Hey Sanada!" Rose yelled happily waving her hands at the black-haired boy as Seigaku and Rikkaidai faced each other on the courts. Rose was staying out of the match this time once more as she didn't want to get distracted from her duty as a guardian. It wouldn't do well for them to get attacked again during such an important tournament.<p>

Sanada returned the gesture with a nod before the two started their matches.

After only a few matches in, the Rikkaidai team started to get a little antsy which was reflected by Rose's own impatience.

"What's wrong Ro?" Ryoma asked as he saw the girl twitching ever so slightly as she kept looking at the clock.

"Oh! Nothing! Nothing!" she said as she continued to look up at the clock.

"Something is wrong. Even Rikkaidai is acting up a bit," Oishi said walking up to the two of them.

"What happened to the matches?" Rose asked as she had been paying more attention to the clock than to the matches themselves.

"The Rikkaidai team and Ryuuzaki-sensei are discussing something. I don't know what though," Oishi said before walking the two first years back over to the team bench.

Rose couldn't help but glance worriedly at the Rikkaidai team. Today was the day after all!

All of a sudden, Sanada turned just slightly before catching her worried eyes. They seemed to be communicating before he gave a slight nod to her unspoken question.

She sighed in relief as the team finished talking to Ryuuzaki and the judges at the tournament that day.

Several members of Rikkaidai walked over to the Seigaku team and asked, "Is it alright that we take Rose with us?"

The team as well as Rose looked at Ryoma hopefully before the boy sighed and said, "Go ahead. I've been thinking something has been up with you guys anyway. Just make sure to tell me what happens later."

"Thank you Ryoma!" Rose said kissing him on the cheek good luck for his match before gathering her bag and rushing with the rest of Rikkaidai into a cab to head to the hospital.

Sanada was the only one to stay behind as he had a match against Ryoma at the moment.

"What was that all about?" Fuji asked with concerned eyes. He like all the others noticed how frantic their rival team and fellow teammate seemed to be acting today and even more so as time went on.

Ryuuzaki was the one who answered as she made her way over to her team. "It seems as though their captain is going through surgery today and it happens to be starting quite soon. They all want to go and support their captain while Sanada completes his match."

"Do you think Rose knew about this?" Fuji asked staring at his own captain and then at Ryoma.

The answer didn't come from either of them. Instead it came from a Rikkaidai member.

"She knew that this would happen ever since the vacation we all took together," Sanada answered as he made his way onto the courts. "She's been helping us and Yukimura, so we are grateful to her."

"Seems like she would do something like that. I'll ask her what happened with the surgery later. Let's finish this match now," Ryoma said also stepping onto the court. "It wouldn't do well to keep your captain waiting for you."

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><p>"Did it start yet?" Rose yelled out to a nearby doctor.<p>

"It's just about to. Thank you for coming to support him," he replied before he went into the room where Yukimura's surgery was taking place.

Before the doors closed, Rose whispered, "For those who give their live for their team…may their will live forever on."

"That's the same exact-"

"Yes, it is the exact same phrase I said when it came to Tezuka during our match with Hyotei and then with Yukimura at the beach resort," she said interrupting him as she leaned against the wall right next to the doors as the surgery started.

Jackal put his earphones in his ear to listen to the match they left behind and asked, "What does it have to do with this though?"

"It's kind of like a healing chant. Except, this chant is only allowed to be used on those not included in the partnership between myth and reality."

"So in other words, that chant is supposed to help heal those that aren't you or Ryoma," Kirihara concluded in simpler terms.

"Correct. Now let's hope Yukimura gets through this," Rose said looking up hopefully at the bright red light shining in the hallway right above them all.

The surgery went on with each of the Rikkaidai regulars becoming more and more agitated with every passing minute that they didn't hear. Rose tried to remain as calm as she could before standing right in front of the door and transforming her wings when no one was watching besides for Rikkaidai.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting antsy," Rose said before she shook some of the dust off her wings into her hands. Before it turned into the water everyone knew, she blew it through the crack in the doorway into the surgery room before concentrating on making the water go inside Yukimura without the doctors noticing.

"Someone's coming! Quick! Hide 'em!" Kirihara warned right before a nurse turned toward around the corner as Rose took her position back against the wall and waited after retracting her wings.

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><p>"It seems like Sanada lost his match," Jackal commented as he pulled his earphones out.<p>

Everyone watched as Kirihara slammed the wall in irritation saying, "I can't believe he lost."

"Calm down Kirihara," Rose said trying to reason.

"Calm down? Your partner is the one that one after all," Kirihara said turning to her. Before he could say anything else, there was a resounding slap throughout the hallway.

With surprised eyes, he turned to see Rose with a blank expression on her face before saying, "You may have lost this tournament, but there is another, more important, match going on right now!" When she got a confused look from him, she pointed at the doors and then at the light which was still light up. "Don't let your loss affect your will to support him."

"Right," Kirihara said as they continued waiting, this time for both the surgery to end and for Sanada to show up.

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><p>"Did I make it in time?" Sanada said in a near pant as he had run right over after he finished his match.<p>

"Yup, the surgery hasn't finished yet," Yagyuu commented as he kept staring at the door.

"Let's hope they finish soon. I'm getting antsier by the second here," Rose said transforming her wings once more and blowing in the healing water.

"How many times have you done that?"

"Once every half hour since I got here," she answered before retracting her wings as yet another nurse came around the corner. "And every single time there is a nurse right afterward," she grumbled under her breath to the amusement of those there.

A few minutes later, the red light turned off and a doctor made his way out of the room.

"How is he?" they all questioned crowding around the doctor all at once.

"Well…"

* * *

><p>"How do you think Yukimura-san is doing?" Ryoma asked his captain as they celebrated their victory at Kawamura's place.<p>

"Let's hope he gets better," Tezuka answered. '_Like I have,'_ he added to himself.

It was thanks to Rose's healing water that he didn't need to go to Germany for rehabilitation. Unknowingly to him, she had given him the same treatment as she did Yukimura, just a bit more subtle. Instead of flat out giving him the water saying that it was a healing mixture, she subtly replaced his regular water with the healing water during each and every practice. After a few weeks, his arm was cured and he didn't need to go to Germany thankfully.

All of a sudden, the door opened to reveal the girl they were all waiting for.

"Rose!" they all yelled out as Ryoma went over and guided her to a chair next to him.

She looked tired and her expression was a bit blank. No one could really tell her emotions.

"I'm sorry to ask this right when you come back, but how is Yukimura-san?" Ryoma asked right away with a tone of concern for both her and Yukimura.

Rose just stared at them all with a solemn expression before her eyes teared up. "He…he…he…"

"Don't tell me he didn't make it," Ryoma said with wide eyes. He wanted to face the captain in a tennis match after all and for another reason he couldn't quite decipher at the moment.

"He…he…he…" More tears fell as she finally completed her sentence. "He survived!" she yelled before tackling Ryoma in a hug in happiness.

"Really?" almost everyone yelled out happily before cheering. "Cheers to Yukimura!"

"He'll be back on the courts soon! He just needs to recover from surgery!" Rose yelled happily before grabbing Tezuka and Fuji into the hug and then leaving it.

"Rose!" Ryoma yelled out with a small tint on his cheeks as he was stuck right in between the captain and the tensai of the team.

Rose just stuck her tongue out playfully before turning to stare out at the night sky. '_Wherever you are…make sure you take good care of him…'_ she thought to herself before going back to the party.

**_~End of the Promise~_**

Okay so that's what happened to her promise. It looks like she was able to help both Yukimura and Tezuka out after all. Well enough about the past, why don't we head into the present now?


	33. Let the Fight Begin!

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**A/N: I decided to be nice and am going to be uploading this chapter. I don't know when I'll be updating the next one. Again, it just depends on the readers (in other words, you people) and how many reviews I get. I really want to see an average of one review for chapter, so I really want to see 33 reviews at least please. Thank you and hope you like the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 32: Let the Fight Begin!<strong>

"Yahoo! Way to go Ryoma!"

Several cheers like this were heard all throughout the stadium at the end of the National tournament.

Ryoma had won the finals against Rikkaidai with his match against Yukimura. Luckily, he had created a new move in time for the last point and even unleashed the Pinnacle of Perfection.

Everyone watched as the Seigaku team threw Ryoma into the air over and over again for his win.

"Way to go Ryoma! I knew you could do it!" Rose yelled as she jumped up and down around the group of players. "Haha! That was an awesome match!"

The tennis players scattered all over the courts couldn't help but agree as it was one of the most exhilarating matches they had ever witnessed.

Even though Yukimura had lost, he still couldn't help but smile along with his team at how well the match went. They may not have achieved their dream of winning three national tournaments in a row, but two was close enough now that they realized why Ryoma had won in the first place.

They didn't play to have fun in tennis. They played to win the matches only. This difference between playing for winning and playing for fun was what changed the outcome of the game the way it did.

Rose glanced over at them before smiling and making her way over. "That was a nice match I saw. Best one I think I'll ever see for a while," she said happily holding a hand out in congratulations for the game well played.

"Thank you," Yukimura said with a smile as he shook her hand. He could clearly tell that the others were too busy congratulating Ryoma to notice.

Rose giggled before she snapped her eyes wide open with a bit of fear.

"I know that look Rose," Yukimura muttered loud enough only for his team and her to hear. "What's going on?"

"They are here," she whispered before spinning around quickly and yelling, "Ryoma! They're here!"

"What?" he yelled back before being let down to the ground immediately as everyone started running toward the bleachers. By everyone, I mean the people that knew of Rose's secret. The other people watching and/or leaving had no idea what was happening at all.

"Be careful! Rose! Echizen/Ryoma!" everyone yelled out as they made their way onto the bleachers trying to calm down the spectators as well as the tennis players that knew nothing of the two's secret.

Rose and Ryoma nodded in response before they jumped into the air to avoid several weapons coming their way.

"You are lucky we let you finish your match," someone yelled as five figures jumped onto the courts a few yards away from the two partners. "Otherwise you would be dead by now," Tiaw said with a smirk on her face.

"Oh yeah? Let's see you try and kill us this time," Ryoma taunted back. "It's not like you haven't said that before and failed," he added in a whisper with a smirk toward Rose who replied with her own smirk at the comment.

The words 'kill' and 'dead' rang through the watchers' minds. They couldn't stop those two words from ringing through their heads as they remained in the bleachers to watch what was going on.

"We will kill you boy and your little pet too!" Tiaw yelled with a sneer as she got her darts ready in her hands.

"Let's see you try it!" Rose yelled back materializing her fans behind her back as Ryoma did the same…except he couldn't really hide the scythe. '**I am not going to let her off that easy for that pet comment!**_'_ she mentally yelled.

'**Calm down Rose. You'll get your chance to get back at her in a bit. Let's just move already before they decide to attack!**' Ryoma replied to try and get her mind off of the comment. If he knew her, she was already mad enough because they had attacked again and now she was double angry from the pet comment that Tiaw mouthed off.

"Right!" Rose yelled before waving her arms around her body and throwing her fans at the group.

Her fans had changed once again along with Ryoma's scythe once more. I swear those weapons kept changing on them. It's getting annoying to keep track sometimes.

Rose's fans were white with several grey swirls on each single portion of the fan. There was a light blue rimming on the end of the fans along with several dark blue spokes sticking out. Ryoma's scythe had a brown hilt along with a light red pattern on the maroon red blade. There was a silver chain on the end still but this time there was something on the end. Was that a freaking crescent blade?

Interesting design though. It looked like a crescent moon for sure; the only thing was that it was made out of three crescents. It had one large brown crescent blade with two smaller red ones inside of it like where a bowstring would be with the bow frame. There were razor sharp edges on each side of the blades, but there was a hole in the middle of each of the crescents so it wouldn't cut his hand if he had to grasp it.

"Let's move," Rose whispered to Ryoma before charging forward with a light covering both her form.

As soon as the light shattered, everyone expected the dragon once more, but instead they saw something else. They saw the same form that they had seen Rose train in during their vacation to the beach!

Her ears were placed with her dragon ears that were about a half foot in length each and were sticking up in alert for anything suspicious. Her dragon wings being light blue and bat-like. Eyes turning golden with a black slit in the middle as a lizard would have and nails turning into claws and talons after her shoes and socks had disappeared from her feet. Appearing from under her shirt, but above her waistline, was a dragon tail that was light blue in color.

"Right behind you!" Ryoma yelled raising his scythe above his head before slamming it down onto the ground creating a large crack from them all the way to the hunters.

"Move!" they heard Shao yell before they all jumped away from the crack.

Rose glanced at Ryoma who just nodded back with a smirk. Rose just nodded back before stopping on the spot and then slamming her tail on the ground.

"What is she doing now?" Aloc wondered to himself as he stared at the crack in the ground in suspicion. Narrowing his eyes, he realized what was going on. Before he could yell at the others to get away from the crack, something had already appeared from the ground and slammed into the others.

"Shoot!" he whispered as he backed away from where the crack appeared and watched as the others were getting thrown around.

What he saw appear from the ground was a large tornado that slammed into the nearest hunter nearby.

"Meiling!" Aloc yelled before he noticed something from the corner of his eye. Swinging his spear around, he knocked the other into the side of the wall nearby.

'_Got her,'_ Aloc thought to himself as he noticed just who he had slammed into the wall.

'_Now to kill her,_' Aloc added as he charged forward with the spear aimed for her heart.

Rose just stared through one open eye at the hunter charging at her with the spear. "Aloc huh?" she whispered before pulling herself from the wall and slamming one of her wings at his side.

Thankfully it threw him off enough to where he just struck the wall next to her head.

"Nice try," she hissed out to him as he tried prying his weapon from the wall. "Why don't I help you with that?" she teased before raising her legs and then kicking him straight in the gut to push him away from her. "Now then. Let's fight," she growled while narrowing her eyes.

"You are a dead dragon!" she heard from the side making her turn her attention over to the source.

Rose widened her eyes before flapping her wings strongly, forcing her body upward to avoid the darts coming her way.

"How many do I have to deal with now?" Rose whispered to herself as she glanced around the area. She noticed that Aloc was still trying to get his spear out of the wall while Tiaw was next to him and watching his back. Looking around again, she noticed that Meiling was just starting to get up after getting slammed by the tornado that she had created. She noticed that Shao was aiming after Ryoma again along with Meiling while Betaes was aiming at her with his daggers. "So I have three people after me again? I swear…" she muttered as she ducked down underneath a wave of darts and daggers.

"Come down here and fight!" Tiaw yelled once more sending out another wave of darts.

Noticing something glinting on the end, Rose caught one in between her claws before narrowing her eyes at the slight poison on the tips. '_Good thing she is aiming after me…_' Rose thought to herself as she threw the dart away to avoid the other projectiles coming her way.

"So you two are the ones fighting me?" Ryoma questioned as he raised his scythe in a defensive position against the archer and swordsman.

"If you had just given up, you wouldn't need to deal with us in the first place," Shao commented with a blank tone as he readied his sword as Meiling readied a few bolts in her crossbow.

"If I had given up, you would have killed Rose," Ryoma commented with a narrowed glare before slamming his scythe blade into the ground again creating a large crack in the ground before swinging it up in a large arc.

"What is he doing now?" Shao asked jumping away from the crack as he knew what happened last time. The dragon was busy with the other three hunters, but even so, he decided to stay on the safe side and get away from the thing.

He was correct in doing so because when Ryoma had swung the scythe back up, a large flame appeared from the ground and crackled everywhere that was close to the source.

"Watch it Meiling!" Shao yelled as he used his sword to push Meiling away from the flame and back onto the safe area of the ground.

Meiling just aimed her crossbow at where she saw Ryoma last and fired off three bolts right away as she did not want to deal with another one of these element 'geysers' that the two partners seemed to be attacking with.

"You would think that he would be tired of having to defend that creature of hell!" Meiling sneered as she watched to see whether she had hit Ryoma with the bolts or not.

"You would believe so but apparently not," Shao commented as he was on the lookout and had his sword ready for an attack.

"Nice try!" they both heard before feeling a wave of air across their faces before seeing a small light growing bigger before appearing from the smoke cloud left after the flame geyser.

"Watch out!" Meiling yelled pushing Shao away from the flame before jumping out of the way herself by jumping onto the bleacher walls.

"Darn," they heard before the smoke cloud was blown away by the wind created by a twirling weapon in a certain someone's hands. "I may not be able to control wind or water, but I can definitely do a bit of damage with fire and earth," he said with a smirk on his face as he charged forward. Throwing the scythe behind him, Ryoma caught it by the crescent blade before swinging around to allow the scythe to make a large arc toward the two hunters.

"Oh boy!" Meiling yelled.

"Oh dear lord of the dragons, come on!" Rose yelled as she was once again pushed back by Tiaw and Betaes. "I hate ranged specialists at times," she yelled before throwing her two fans at the three of them.

"Aren't you one yourself?" Aloc questioned noticing what she had said.

"Oh!" Rose puffed out her cheeks in obvious anger at the contradiction she had just noticed. "You know what I mean you darn hunter!" she yelled out as the fans returned to her after completely missing the three hunters she was aiming at. "I've had enough of you hunters ruining my life!"

"Ruined your life? You ruined our ancestors' lives!" Tiaw yelled before charging at Rose while she was turned around and kicking her straight on her back where the base of her wings was placed.

Rose gritted her teeth in pain as she was slammed forward. Waving one wing back, she was able to knock Tiaw off of her in time to recover herself and pull up from smashing into a wall. "I swear you guys are stronger than last time."

"We left you alone for a few months. What else did you think we were doing?" Betaes said actually speaking for the first time during the battle.

"And I see you guys are still nuts over the past," Rose said rolling her eyes before glancing over at Ryoma to see how he was doing with his fight.

"Don't let your guard down," Aloc warned to the other hunters as he charged forward with the spear at his side before quickly swinging it around his body and then slashing it in a sideways arc aiming at her side.

Rose saw it in time to avoid getting slashed in half by moving one hand to block the attack with her claws. This maneuver allowed her to save her life, but the disadvantage was that she was still cut in both her hands and part of her side, which the attack still cut through, even if it wasn't very deep of a cut.

"I swear to the heaven's dragons, I am not going to let you kill me," Rose gritted through her teeth before pushing Aloc back and charging forward with a hand outstretched and claws ready to harm.

"Rose!" she heard making her pivot in her spot to turn and see that the tennis regulars were pointing at Ryoma.

"Looks like I have to transform after all," Rose said narrowing her eyes before a light covered both her and Ryoma nearly blinding the hunters before it shattered.

"Let the fight begin!"


	34. Say Goodbye!

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**A/N: Okay, so I can tell that my goal for reaching the same amount of reviews as I do chapters is not going to happen anytime soon. The reviewers so far have made me happy though, so I'll be proud to announce that this story will be finished within the next week or so. I've actually had this story completed as of the end of May really. Now then, there is a poll on my profile for what people want me to write next. On the poll at the moment are "Sequel to Thornless Rose", "Rewrite of Half-Breed", and "Secret Ambitions". Thanks for reading everyone!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 33: Say Goodbye!<strong>

"Let the fight begin!" Rose yelled before charging right at Shao and Meiling in her new dragon form.

The spectators could only stare at her newest look. Her scales were mainly white with light blue scales making several swirl patterns all over her body. Several dark blue blades created the mane on her neck along with the blades on her tail. Wings, light blue in color with light grey swirls patterning them, were tucked in to allow her to charge in at full speed with water droplets making their way down to the ground. Her golden eyes now had just a tint of blue in the upper corner.

Aloc, Betaes, and Tiaw could only watch in fear as Rose made it to Ryoma before slapping both Shao and Meiling away from the boy and into the nearby walls with an outstretched wing.

As Rose stepped away to allow Ryoma into view, they saw that his outfit had changed as well.

Everyone could see that Ryoma was wearing red clothing underneath the armor he was wearing. The clothing was a dull red with the armor being blood red from what they could all see. The metal plating covered his arms with two large spikes curving out of it like a scythe blade. The armor over his legs also had two spikes that curved up. A small brown pouch was on his leg for several items to be placed and there was a larger brown pouch on his back. What the larger pouch carried was unknown by the spectators and the two partners at the moment.

"Thanks Rose," Ryoma commented as he took a deep breath.

"What happened to make the others screech for me to help anyway?" Rose questioned stepping around Ryoma to be behind him while she kept her eye on the hunters.

"Meiling was close to shooting my shoulder," Ryoma explained tapping his shoulder at the point that he was talking about.

"I see," Rose replied seeing him raise his weapon once more as it was now twice his size with the chain being as long as he was tall.

Rose lowered herself to the ground to allow Ryoma to jump onto her head in between her two curved white horns. "Smash 'em Ryoma," Rose said before throwing her head up sharply which caused Ryoma to be thrown up high into the air where only the ranged hunters could possibly reach him.

"On it!" they all heard Ryoma yell before slamming onto the ground with the scythe blade creating a large crater on the ground. The crater in turn caused several blocks of land in several areas to just spike out of the ground startling the hunters. "Let's see how they like mazes," Ryoma commented seeing how the rocks had spiked up often enough to make a crude maze-like field.

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><p>"How are we supposed to get out of this?" Tiaw yelled over the maze walls. Some of the rocks had spiked up to cover only their heads while others spiked up high enough to go twice their size, and some were even half their size.<p>

"How should I know?" Meiling questioned jumping over a rock wall and landing right next to Tiaw. "Let's see if we can get on top of the maze first," Meiling suggested before climbing yet another rock next to them.

"Alright then," Tiaw muttered under her breath as she put away her darts back somewhere in her armor before starting to climb once again.

As soon as the two were on top of the maze though, they were soon faced with large slit eyes.

Widening their own eyes, they kept staring at the creature in front of them before it snapped at them causing them to fall backward into another part of the maze.

"Darn! That stupid dragon is keeping watch over the tops of the mazes! Her partner is probably at the exit of this place too!" Tiaw yelled with a sneer as she glared over the top of the wall and at the dragon.

"Let's just try to find the exit then. Or get her to knock us around enough to where we fall into the outside area of this maze," Meiling suggested picking Tiaw up from the floor and already starting to move and jump over rocks.

"Right behind you," Tiaw grumbled with another glare toward the dragon that was watching them from in the sky only to get a smirk in return which angered her even further.

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><p>"It looks like that dragon is smarter than we thought," Aloc said to himself as he continued to tread through the maze. He wouldn't just rush out of the maze like someone else would most likely be doing. He wasn't that stupid after all. If anything, he would be following Shao and Betaes who would be most likely just walking around trying to find the exit and be prepared for anything.<p>

Aloc continued searching for a way out of the maze before hearing a screech in the air. Snapping his head up, he saw the dragon let out another shriek upon seeing him. He was about to draw his weapon and attack until he saw that the dragon didn't do anything besides shriek at him at first.

"Why doesn't she choose to attack?" he whispered to himself as he narrowed his eyes at his sworn enemy.

Slowly glancing around the area, he saw an open area behind him. "So that's the exit," he whispered before turning around and walking over only to be stopped once again.

Looking up, he mouthed the word 'what' so that she would know what he was saying without others hearing. He narrowed his eyes in confusion as he saw the dragon shake her head. Raising an eyebrow, he continued walking while keeping an eye out on the dragon and saw her keep shaking her head.

"I wonder what is up with – whoa!" Aloc nearly yelled as he stepped back away from the entrance. "When was there a mini-canyon in the ground around here?" he questioned to himself as he continued to step backward until he hit a wall. Looking up at the dragon again, he saw her nod her head slightly before seeing her eyes glancing toward the side.

Catching the direction, he looked in the same direction to see Shao and Betaes heading his way looking for the exit.

Looking up once more, he saw the dragon looking at another area and shrieking once more at something.

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><p>"So you are here then," Shao commented walking up to Aloc who was slumped against the wall. "Did the creature attack you?" he questioned noticing that he was a bit dazed for some odd reason.<p>

"No the dragon did not attack me. I nearly fell into the mini-canyon that way," Aloc replied pointing in the direction he had nearly walked through.

"But isn't that the exit?" Betaes said walking over only to snap his eyes open before stepping back quickly. "That's a mini-canyon. That's a mini-canyon," he repeated as if to reassure himself that it was there.

"We nearly walked into a lava pit," Shao commented glancing at Aloc from the corner of his eyes.

"Oh? How did you know to get away before you stepped in it?" Aloc questioned getting up from the wall and dusting off his armor.

"I didn't. The creature screeched making me back away in slight shock," Shao answered as he walked in a random direction. "Let's find a way out of this maze then."

"Right!" Aloc and Betaes both said.

'_That dragon is confusing,'_ Aloc commented to himself as he followed the hunters' leader.

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><p>"Have they found a way out yet?" Ryoma asked jumping on top of the wall closest to where Rose was floating at the moment.<p>

"Not yet. The two girls, Tiaw and Meiling, are together and searching for a way. The three males – Aloc, Shao, and Betaes – have joined together as well to search. So far, Shao and Betaes have seen both fire and earth, while Aloc has only seen earth. Tiaw and Meiling have yet to reach any of the elements," Rose explained as she continued glancing around the maze.

One reason for the maze was that the two wanted some time to think up a plan as they were already a bit injured from the fight earlier without the transformations. They needed to try and avoid injuries this time around if they wanted to last the battle this time…

"Hey! Echizen! Rose!" they heard someone yell.

Turning their attention over to the source of the yell, they noticed that Momo was pointing at something in the maze.

Narrowing her eyes, Rose glanced over from where her head was positioned and looked around the area Momo was pointing at without letting anyone – besides the people in front of her and close to her position – know that she was.

She searched the area he was pointing at before snapping her eyes wide open. "Look out!" she yelled pushing Ryoma back down onto the ground using one of her wings and then whipping her tail in front of her to deflect several darts coming her way. "Looks like I wasn't paying attention well enough," she chastised herself as she watched the hunters get onto the top of the maze walls one by one until all five were in front of her.

"Oh? Where's your partner? Abandoned you as well little fool?" Tiaw mocked trying to make Rose as angry as possible. After all, not many creatures fought well when they were angry. (A/N: I have to agree, my friends fight sloppy when they get completely angry too.)

Rose didn't take the mocking to heart as she knew what they were doing…generally. She didn't know specifics, but she watched enough television shows with the Seigaku team as well as the Rikkaidai team to know that the antagonists usually tried getting the hero of the story angry for some odd reason. She just didn't understand why. Smirking, she just replied, "Eh? Who are you calling little when you are only a fraction of my size?"

Everyone could see a tick mark appear on Tiaw's forehead before she gritted her teeth and sneered out, "Why you little-"

"Calm down Tiaw. She's trying the same strategy as you are," Shao said, thrusting an arm out in front of the darts specialist and stopping what she was going to say. "You are an interesting one, I admit that at least."

Rose lowered her head down while still keeping her eyes on the enemy in front of her. She was flattered about the interesting comment sure, but she would not let her guard down from something as simple as that. She wouldn't make any mistakes that would cost Ryoma his life… well… she could try anyway.

'_I'll protect him,_' she thought to herself as she continued to glare. '_I'll protect him and everyone important in his heart. That is my goal. That is my duty… That is my wish…'_

"I will not allow you to cause any harm to my partner," Rose said, narrowing her eyes to try and get her point across to get them to leave.

"We aren't leaving until we get what we came for," Meiling said, loading up a bolt on her crossbow.

"Now!" Shao yelled, startling Rose a bit before she saw what they were doing.

Several of them jumped into the air before throwing something to the ground. Before she could even stop it, several explosions took place within the maze walls smothering them into pieces leaving a level field in its wake.

Looking around the area, she noticed that the five had jumped and landed in points that surrounded both her and Ryoma.

She was paying too much attention to the hunters to notice the shadows lined up over her body.

"Rose! Ryoma! Above you!" someone yelled out trying to get their attention to the objects.

Rose looked a little up a little too late because as soon as she had looked up, she could only widen her eyes in surprise at the several swords and spears pointed down at her.

She could only do one thing and that was whipping her tail at Ryoma to throw him away from the projectiles as they came crashing down upon her.

Flinching, she looked over at Ryoma to make sure he was safe only to sigh in relief to see that he was completely fine and unscathed from the attack. The same couldn't be said for her though as the spears and swords were diagonal to the ground over her body successfully trapping her to the ground with cuts marring her skin.

"Time to kill what we came for," Betaes whispered under his breath as he grabbed several daggers.

"But let's make sure that her partner doesn't do anything at the moment," Tiaw suggested with an evil smile on her face.

Rose understood the double meaning of those words and started flailing around in the weapon caging she was in.

Ryoma didn't know the meaning as he allowed several of his fellow tennis players to come onto the courts to try and help him up. Included in this group were Tezuka, Eiji, Fuji, Atobe, Ohtori, Shishido, Kirihara, Sanada, and Yukimura. He didn't notice as the hunters moved to where they were in between Rose and him.

"Time to say goodbye…partner!" Tiaw yelled as the hunters threw or shot their weapons at the now shocked and surprised group.

"No!"


	35. It's Just the Beginning

Thornless Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or the original canon characters.

Summary: Dragons are the bane of the human race. The dragons nearly killed our ancestors. They are greedy for power. They are violent and cruel and do not care about humans' well-being in the slightest…but is that really true? Rewrite of Dragon's Master.

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><p>"Dragon" – Normal Speech<p>

'_Dragon'_ – Normal Thoughts

**Dragon** – Telepathy (thoughts only)

**A/N: This is the final chapter of this story. Now some of you may yell at me for the ending, but don't worry about it. There is a poll on my profile for what people want me to write next. On the poll at the moment are "Sequel to Thornless Rose", "Rewrite of Half-Breed", and "Secret Ambitions". Whichever one has the most votes by September 15 is the story I will mainly be working on for the next few months. I will occasionally work on the other two, but the winner will be the one I mainly write for if I can. Thanks for reading everyone and hope you enjoyed the story as I have!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 34: It's Just the Beginning<strong>

"Time to say goodbye…partner!" Tiaw yelled as the hunters threw or shot their weapons at the now shocked and surprised group.

"No!" someone yelled as a light shone from behind the hunters before disappearing as another figure shot off toward the group.

The hunters widened their eyes as they saw a figure rush past them and right in front of the attacks aimed at one particular individual.

"No!" several people yelled.

All that several could see was a large splash of red before they heard a loud thump from something – or someone – hitting the ground.

The hunters, tennis players, and other spectators could only stare with wide eyes at the scene.

"Rose…" Ryoma whispered as he stared at the figure in front of him.

Silence reigned throughout the entire stadium.

"Murderers!" Ryoma yelled at startling everyone. "Murderers! You're all murderers!" he yelled out with tears at the corners of his eyes.

"I can't believe it…" several people whispered in the bleachers as they stared with tears in their eyes at the one on the ground.

"Rose…" several of the tennis players whispered with their hands over their mouths in shock and surprise.

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><p>"That dragon… actually saved him?" Aloc questioned staring at the girl on the ground.<p>

"How is that possible? Dragons don't have a care for humans in the slightest," Meiling questioned back with a confused look on her face as she stared.

The dragon was on the ground in her human form with a look of pain on her face. Several weapons were stuck inside of her back as she lay crumpled up on the ground.

All five of the hunters had seen what happened. As soon as all five of them had thrown their weapons at the male partner, they noticed a light shine behind them. Before they could even turn around to check what had caused it, they saw something zoom past them right in front of the boy and his comrades.

They were shocked to say the least when they saw the dragon jump right in front of the weapons knowing that she would get extremely hurt. After all, who wouldn't get hurt after having several weapons thrown right at your back?

"Murderers! Murderers! You're all murderers!" they heard from the dragon's partner.

Looking up at the boy, they saw him with tears in his eyes that were threatening to fall down his face. This same expression was reflected in several other's faces as well as they turned away or covered their mouths with their hand to stifle their sobs if they were crying.

"Why are they so sad over something like her?" Tiaw said jumping down next to Shao as she prepared another set of darts for the human partner. "It's not like she was close to any of them."

Shao and Betaes kept quiet as they took in the spectators' reactions. They couldn't help but wonder the same thing. Why were they so sad over seeing this happen to her?

"Well we didn't get the partner," Tiaw commented with a small shrug before she drew her arms in an 'x' in front of her, "but we can definitely get him now."

Aloc and Shao just glanced at the male partner as the others readied their ranged weapons.

"Aim to kill," Shao whispered loud enough for his fellow hunters to hear.

"Roger that," Tiaw said with an evil grin on her face as she threw her arms forward at the same time as Betaes threw his daggers with Meiling releasing several bolts from her crossbow.

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><p>"Watch out!" Ryoma yelled jumping up and pushing everyone away before jumping up onto the bleachers.<p>

The several weapons embedded themselves into the wall.

Ryoma, unfortunately, could not reach Rose in time to avoid another attack if they had chosen to do so, so instead, he decided to make sure that he drew that attacks away from his partner.

Running along the bleacher wall, Ryoma made sure to grab his scythe from the ground nearby before rushing all the way past the hunters to the other side of the stadium. "Try to kill me now you weak pansies," he yelled out trying to get their attention on him instead of his fallen partner.

"Oh you asked for it!" Tiaw yelled before turning around on her heel and dashing forward.

'_I swear that she is the most violent,_' Ryoma commented to himself as he raised the scythe up to allow the blade to cover his face from the darts. Twisting the scythe around, he narrowly blocked a sword about to pierce his side from behind him. "That was dangerous," Ryoma sighed out in relief as he swung the scythe again to knock Shao away from him.

Jumping up and twirling his body, he avoided the daggers being thrown his way. Swinging his scythe to make the butt of his weapon hit the ground, Ryoma balanced himself on the weapon and held his hands on the very top of the hilt, so he wouldn't cut his hands on it. Being upside down made his head hurt from the blood rushing to his head, but it gave him enough leverage to suddenly swing down, knocking the scythe outward, and swinging both himself and the scythe in opposite directions to knock both Meiling and Aloc away from him.

"Why did you call us murderers?" Shao asked with a blank expression on his face as he charged Ryoma once more.

"Because you killed her!" Ryoma snarled before blocking the incoming sword with the hilt of his scythe.

"So?" Betaes questioned this time. "She is a dragon, is she not?"

"Dragons are the creatures of hell. Hunters were created in the past to stop their rampages throughout the world," Meiling commented as she knew the hunter's story.

"Just because she is a dragon doesn't make her like the rest in your so called story!" Ryoma nearly yelled as he forced the hunters back. "You are just like those hunters from her past…"

"Excuse me?" Aloc questioned, raising an eyebrow as he readied his weapon and got into a defensive stance along with Shao. The other three would do the attacking for now until they switched positions in a bit.

"You are just like those hunters from centuries ago," Ryoma sneered while narrowing his eyes. "You don't care how hurt she's been. You just care about killing her."

"Her kind attacked the hunters first!" Tiaw yelled back, getting angry. She could not believe that this human would dare go against everything she and her fellow hunters believed in. "The dragons were the cause of the war! They attacked the hunters first! They themselves are the reason they are nearly extinct!"

"You are wrong!" several yelled out startling the combatants.

Everyone on the battlefield turned to see that several of the tennis players had tears about to fall from their eyes. "You are horribly wrong!"

"What are you talking about? You don't know the legend! Even if you did, you don't know the entire story like we hunters do!" Tiaw yelled while the other hunters relaxed their stances just a bit. It seemed as if Tiaw wouldn't stop talking long enough for an attack on the boy. It didn't look like the boy would move any time soon either as he kept glancing at Rose's body further ahead to his right and by the stands.

"How would you know the entire story either?" Gakuto yelled angrily. He and a few others had just about had enough of the hunters messing up Rose's and Ryoma's life.

"You weren't alive then whatsoever! How do you know the hunter's story is true?" Kirihara yelled. He could not believe that they would honestly think that Rose would be anything like the horrible creatures from their stupid little stories. After getting to know her, there was no way she could be like what the hunters said.

"If they were so cherished, why would only one be alive then?" Tiaw yelled back.

Betaes stepped in saying, "They are creatures of hell. Her," he pointed at Rose's body, "powers belong to that of a dragon. The same dragons that tried to massacre our kind. We defended against them for it was in our self-protection. Therefore, we shall eradicate all those that dare trample over the human race."

With that said, Tiaw, Betaes, and Meiling all slung or fired their weapons at the tennis players that dared stand up to defend the dragon.

"And since when were you named god?" a voice called out before something rushed over knocking away all of the weapons before they even hurt the players.

"What in the world?" Meiling questioned stepping back while loading another bolt in her crossbow and aiming.

She was about to fire along with Tiaw and Betaes until they all stopped and widened their eyes in surprise along with a few others.

"It can't be…" Betaes whispered lowering his arms to his side.

"But… those injuries!" Tiaw yelled with wide eyes as she stared.

"Rose!" Ryoma yelled out surprised before he jumped over the hunters and right beside her. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be moving!"

"I'm definitely not going to be able to move very well for the next month after this!" Rose yelled back clenching one eye shut in pain as she clenched her hands into fists. "God dang, I can't believe that freaking worked." (A/N: When did I say she was actually dead?)

"How are you even able to move, let alone stand?"

"I knew I was going to get hurt badly, I just didn't know to what extent. As soon as these weapons – would you pull them out already Ryoma – made contact, I forced my heart to create new blood as fast as it could as I was pouring every bit of my magic into my healing property as well as keeping my human form," Rose explained as Ryoma and a few others helped rip the weapons out of her body.

"Why don't you just transform into a dragon, so you can focus on healing?" Yukimura questioned as he pulled out another dart from her skin.

"Oh please," Rose scoffed. "My dragon form is bigger than my human form obviously. The moment I transform back, the more likely it is for these weapons to somehow get into my body instead of just piercing it like right n-OW!" she yelped as Ryoma pulled the last weapon out which happened to be a hooked dagger that curved to grab some extra flesh off of her.

"Sorry!" Ryoma said in surprise at her yelp. "I'll heal that."

"Don't unless you want me to have a major coughing fit," Rose said turning around and crouching with eyes glaring at the hunters in front of her. "I'm definitely not going to be able to move after this!" she yelled charging forward at the closest hunter who happened to be the spearman.

"Watch out Aloc!" Shao yelled out hoping to get the warning to him in time. He could only hope that the spearman could hold off the dragon in time as he charged forward with his own weapon.

Aloc raised the spear to block the girl only to be surprised as Rose just swerved around him and threw a fan. Looking behind him, he could only watch as the hunter behind him, Meiling, widened her eyes before the fan wrapped around her with a glinting wire attached.

The fan came back around and into Rose's hands as she tugged on the wire and threw the crossbow user to the ground, the wire digging into her skin and making small lacerations.

Releasing the wire from her fan, Rose had to jump back as Aloc swiped at her.

Taking another step forward, Aloc nearly slipped and fell as he stepped on something slippery. Looking down, he noticed that he was standing in a puddle of blood. As he followed the trail, he noticed that it was coming from the girl as she continued to hop around the area, avoiding attacks left and right. "What is that dragon thinking? Fighting like this…"

"Rose!" Ryoma yelled, throwing his scythe in a spiral at a hunter that was about to attack her from behind.

Tiaw, not expecting the attack from the human, could only raise her arms in defense against the twirling weapon as it struck her and pinned her by the shoulder.

"Now!" Ryoma yelled over to his partner.

"Right!" she yelled back, gripping one of her fans and snapping it in Tiaw's direction to unleash a full set of metal spokes which hit several pieces of Tiaw's armor, pinning her to the wall.

"Curse you and your dragon!" Tiaw yelled as she tried moving her hands to attack Ryoma when he went over to pry his scythe from her shoulder.

"Get back here!" Ryoma heard Rose yell as he turned around only to see Betaes rushing him. Gritting his teeth, he raised his scythe and parried all of the dagger swipes coming at his face.

"Just keep running, and she'll take care of the rest," Ryoma whispered to himself as he ducked under Betaes' arm and ran forward to avoid the sword coming at his legs. Turning around, he raised his scythe to block the spear aimed at him from the sky. "Or keep blocking. That'll work too."

Noticing a glint from the corner of his eyes, Ryoma pushed the scythe forward, knocking Aloc off his feet and into the wired fans spinning around him.

"The boy is heavy!" Rose commented as she tugged at the wires and swung her upper body in a half-circle.

"Aloc! Betaes!" Shao yelled as the girl was somehow able to drag Aloc across the field and make him crash into the dagger user. "Curses…" he sneered under his breath.

Turning to look at the dragon, he noticed her fall to her knees from the blood loss that she was experiencing. Her blood was practically pooling around her and giving off a black tint, signaling that some of it had dried.

"You're the last one," Ryoma commented, holding his scythe as he stood in front of Rose to defend her. "Any last words?"

"I would rather kill you and your dragon, but it seems that I cannot do so as hunters never work without their partners… Farewell hell creature," Shadow said, narrowed eyes glaring at them both before he threw a smoke bomb at the ground.

Several people coughed as the smoke cleared from the area. Ryoma sneered as he noticed that Shao and the four injured hunters were gone along with their weapons. The only thing that signified that they were even there to begin with was the marks of battle all over the field.

"My dear Onaylama this is going to hurt!"

Turning toward the source of the yell, everyone saw Rose fall onto her side as she breathed heavily from obvious pain.

"Rose!" Ryoma turned and kneeled next to her. "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright to you?" Rose asked, looking at her partner with a raised eyebrow. Cuts marred her skin which would surely leave a few scars until they healed completely. Blood covered the floor she was laying in and was starting to make the remains of her torn clothes stick to the wounds on her body. In short… she looked like hell had run her over.

"You need some immediate rest," Ryoma commented picking her up from the ground and carrying her in his arms as he walked toward their teammates and friends.

Rose just gave a weak smile before looking up toward the sky as she said, "We won this battle… but we have not won this war just yet…"


End file.
